


Beyond the Simulation Theory

by ChibiDashie



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers, Muse (Band)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Cyberpunk, Dystopian World, Epic Battles, Epic Friendship, F/M, Future, Gen, Hetalia Countries Using Human Names, Implied Relationships, Inspired by Music, Multiple Endings, Nationverse, Near Future, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Science Fiction, Song Lyrics, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-03-07 15:51:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 23,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18876328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChibiDashie/pseuds/ChibiDashie
Summary: A fic heavily inspired from the album "Simulation Theory" by Muse, featuring songs from the album.The year was 2054: Humanity lives in the bountiful beauty of progress thanks to the wonders of technology. So much seems to be normal, but something is stirring behind our very eyes, and we humans don't even notice in the first place.Meet Eduard von Bock: Hacker extraordinaire, and possibly one of the greatest hackers Earth has seen in recent times. He could hack anything if he wanted to, but soon he will crack the greatest code nobody knew about in the first place: an idea that humanity has been living in a simulation this whole time. One question remains; if all of humanity was living in nothing but a simulation created by someone else, then what is the meaning of life? These questions will haunt Eduard throughout his epic journey, but while uniting with old friends and meeting new faces, a greater threat looms deep within a whole other world that Eduard and his companions must fight, even if it means risking their own lives and possibly the entire human race.





	1. Algorithm

**Author's Note:**

> (Almost) All the chapters in this fic will have an accompanying song to go along with it! Just look at the title of the chapter and you can play and read along! Do note that the song and the fic aren't exactly aligned with each other!
> 
> UPDATE 10/7/19: I wrote this fic to help me prepare for the Praxis Core, a teacher certification test that is notoriously difficult for many that includes a math, reading, and writing section. I wrote this fic to help me with the test since I had months to prepare, and because of this fic, it was my highest score out of everything I took at this time. This is really proof that fanfiction isn't just a niche thing that won't help anyone at all; writing fanfiction is like writing a novel to prepare for a test. I thought this fic wouldn't get me far in life, but seeing that i passed the writing section with flying colors, I can really see that this fic helped me advance my career as a teacher.

[Accompanying Song](https://youtu.be/wJcVLxRtDms)

* * *

The year was 2054. Innovation progressed at a rate nobody has ever seen throughout human history, and many have adapted to live alongside new breeds of robotic humans to serve a purpose. There have been things stirring behind human society, however...

* * *

**Tallinn, Estonia**

Meet Eduard von Bock; a nerd at heart, but possibly one of the greatest hackers to step foot on Earth. Little do people really know is that he is in fact, representing his country though.

There have been things he has done for his own people for the greater good, such as quelling a rogue robot that nearly destroyed his home city, which he did fortunately tame. Unfortunately for the robot, it was infected with a virus that changed its code to become aggressive and harm others, a clear violation of Asimov's  _Three Laws of Robotics._

However, there has been one thing Eduard hasn't cracked yet, and this will begin possibly the greatest feat he has ever did in his entire career as a professional hacker.

Three monitors stood together, forming to become one entire monitor. A tower illuminated its brilliant LEDs, as the sound of water cooled the beast that breathes within the metal chassis. The clicking of a mechanical keyboard rang through the room, worried that he might disturb his neighbors from the noise. He has spent so many months working to crack this code, with one question in mind, based on the stories he read long ago:

"Are we living in a simulation?"

That was until he saw a string of words appear in the command prompt, his eyes widening at what could possibly be the biggest breakthrough with this project.

"Hello." That was the five words that appeared in the command prompt.

"Eureka!" Eduard said, clapping his hands together and nearly falling over his chair. "But wait, what could this possibly mean? Am I just going crazy that something responded? Or did I let another fellow hacker communicate with me by accident?"

Eduard began to type a response to the mysterious string of letters, but knows that it's best to start out with simple questions rather than the complex ones.

"What is your name?" The command prompt brought up this sentence on its own.

Eduard began to type his name to the command prompt, surprised that he got a response in mere seconds. He kept going, initiating a conversation with what he thought was an AI, but knew that now is the time to ask the all-important question that swarmed his mind.

"Are we living in a simulation?"

This time, his answer appeared a minute after he typed his question in.

"Yes".

"This means war with your creator, Eduard. Crack the code to escape."

"Creator?" Eduard pushed his glasses back in position, shocked at the answer he's gotten. He knew his hypothesis is correct, but now comes the challenge to prove that the simulation theory is in fact, real.

 _Burn, Like a slave_  
_Churn, like a cog_  
_We are caged in simulations_

The computer showed a bunch of equations and blueprints, but what for? What is with all of this math and engineering?! Eduard examined the blueprints and equations, soon realizing that what the computer has shown him is possibly the way to break out of this supposed simulation. An image of a metal frame showed the different parts needed to build a hole to escape this supposed simulation, despite Eduard showing doubtful that this might as well be a hoax. Nonetheless, he stood up from his work space and went outside to gather needed materials to supposedly break the wall separating the simulation and possibly a whole new world.

 _A_ _l_ _gorithms evolve,_  
_Push us aside_  
_Render us obsolete_

For weeks, Eduard began to painstakingly work on this contraption that something behind that computer gave him. Mathematical equations soared through from his eyes into his brain, rendering himself to be a human calculator to work out how he can break physics. The sound of drills and keyboard clicking were the brick and mortar to this metal frame, and he knew he cannot stop at this point. He nearly had to keep going.

_This..._

_Means..._

_War!_

Finally, the final touches to the metal frame were put up. With one push from a lever, the frame lit up, soon turning into a massive portal emitting a great amount of plasma that broke all sense of reality. Now is the time to begin the ascent into what could possibly mean freedom. What Eduard realized though is that he cannot simply walk through the door to this new world, due to the fact that walking alone would be too slow. He needed something much faster!

His neighbors began to show concern for Eduard, hearing all of the racket that he has been stirring. The concerns grew bigger upon seeing that this experiment has gone a lot weirder. Eduard rolled an entire motorcycle into the room the door lies, knowing this is the best way to approach this brand new world beyond this supposed simulation. This was now going to be a life or death situation, fearing the worst can happen with him. Although he is simply nationkind, the worst that can happen to him might simply be crashing through a wall under a lot of speed and somehow retain consciousness due to being a nation. If a normal human were to do this and fail, they could simply die from the amount of speed being accelerated into the wall.

_With your creator!_

The engine of the motorcycle purred like a beast ready to pounce, his hands holding tightly onto the handles. He took a deep breath, making sure he had his trustworthy keyboard with him, in case this world beyond the simulation world is what he truly thinks it might be: Cyberspace.

With one thrust of his wrists, the motorcycle began to accelerate towards the door, soon taking him to some sort of plane of flashing colors. For a whole minute, it seemed like all life except all around him stopped, until what became of a simple motorcycle transformed into more of a lightcycle, releasing a trail of blue behind him everywhere he drove through this new plane of reality.

Eduard stopped halfway when he saw a literal wall of code in front of him, rapidly changing the binary by itself. He seemed to be hesitant to step off his now-transformed lightcycle and onto the ground that has become nothing but an endless grid. He whipped out his keyboard that he kept on his back, seeing that a screen appeared in front of him when he sat down and placed a possible weapon on his lap. By surprise, he has gotten communication from the same entity that communicated with him back in the Simulation.

"What is this plane of reality?" Eduard furiously typed on his keyboard, soon beginning to examine his surroundings. Everything seemed to have some sort of purple-ish tint, even the cliffs that stood beside him and his lightcycle.

"This is Midpoint, Eduard." He got a prompt back on the screen. "Where you came from, the Simulation, has been broken, but will heal quickly. Beyond that green wall of binary code is the Other Plane, and you must drive through just like how you got here. Quickly, Eduard. There are Electric Soldiers there, and you must go through as soon as possible or else you must succumb to the Creator's wrath."

Eduard nodded, hopping back on his lightcycle. As he drove down Midpoint, he looked behind to see the grid disintegrate from the light that his lightcycle created; but now is clearly not the time to look at such oddities! He prepared to enter the Other Plane, shattering the wall of code that could have prevented him from going in the first place.

 _Reload_  
_Crash out_

Binary numbers shattered like glass as Eduard continued through this seemingly endless road. But what he didn't know, however, is that a great danger was standing right next to him!

 _This_  
_Means war_  
_With your creator!_

A camera zoomed up on Eduard, detecting him as a virus that has broken into this new plane from the safety of the wall of code. This was a nasty problem Eduard must react quickly to, as lasers from different drones that hung over him began to fire at will, trying to exterminate this "virus".

 _This!_  
_Means war_  
_With your creator!_

He swerved around many of the lasers firing at him, trying his best to safely make it through the barrage. All seemed hopeful until a weakened stretch of road collapsed from a laser that fired in front of him, resulting in the inevitable plummet from above and down below into an unknown abyss. He held close to his light cycle during the descent, trying to steer as far away from the rubble without getting injured.

* * *

 

**CRASH!**

He looked around to see that he was in some sort of abandoned, futuristic metropolis, as the road from high above began to crumble. His light cycle was no more, only being mere pieces of electronic fragment.

"My light cycle!" Eduard exclaimed, desperately trying to put the pieces back together. Only then they fell back apart, even with every futile attempt of trying to stick the destroyed parts together.

As Eduard was about to take his keyboard out, he noticed red, flashing lights, similar to police lights approaching him.

"Stay where you are!" Voices cried out, soon getting louder and louder. Eduard had no choice but to obey to these demands, putting his keyboard back and raising both of his hands.

These weren't police cars; they were electric soldiers serving under the Creator. They all seemed to dress rather dark, until Eduard noticed their visors and chestplates are actually LED screens. The visors slowly scrolled "Stay where you are" while their chestplates flashed red and blue, nearly looking like a siren. They began to point their guns toward Eduard, making sure he wouldn't fight back.

"Get the Organic, XP-M47 and XP-631L, and make sure it doesn't move an inch." A soldier ordered, with the two soldiers saluting and responding "Aye aye, sir!", both verbally and having the three words seen on their visors. Eduard couldn't fight back now, and must succumb to the orders of the electric soldiers. He was limp when two soldiers, known as XP-M47 and XP-631L held him with one of their arms rather tightly under the armpit, helplessly dragging his feet on the ground that is still continuous grid.

Eduard looked at the electric soldiers that carried him to the unknown. At this point, he was scared, not knowing now on how he will figure this entire dilemma that hangs over him and perhaps, all of humanity.

"Um, sir-"

"Be quiet, Organic." XP-M47 commanded, nearly about to bludgeon poor Eduard, showing his power over the helpless young man. All Eduard can do now was to continuously get dragged and look down at the grid below him.


	2. Thought Contagion

[Accompanying Song](https://youtu.be/8dzKN-AE0WA)

* * *

 Eduard felt this dragging was going to take forever and ever, with his neck eventually starting to feel the pain of looking down at an endless grid.

Things began to turn weirder and weirder. The land of this cyberpunk world began to get much more duller, the ground finally having bits of texture such as steps. Eduard's eyes widened when he looked up to see what could only be described as a massive, cyborg skeleton with wires running down its arms and legs, all attached to a helm that covered its eyes, leaving only the jaw exposed. It sat on a massive throne of metal and old computerized junk from the bygone days of the time when people began to acquire modern technology a hundred or so years ago. You can even see old CRT monitors flashing pictures from the era it was made, like an old IBM PC showing off its phosphorous green display flashing many images from the 1980's, from trends to historical events, or even a Gateway from the 90's flashing all sorts of wacky colors, like old screensavers or the iconic "Jazz" pattern found on paper cups.

"Your excellency, the great Creator, we have found the organic that broke through from the Simulation and disarmed it." One of the electric soldiers announced, as the two electric soldiers that held Eduard forcefully pushed him to the ground, drawing their weapons at Eduard right after. This might be the end of an era for Eduard von Bock now, but he began to brace for the final solution.

Eduard noticed this unholy abomination extend its massive skeleton arm towards him, which then he was forcefully grabbed. The massive cyborg examined Eduard's organic data down to the mere molecule that built him, soon examining his preferred weapon of choice that brought him here in the first place.

"Ah...a superorganic." The unholy abomination said, soon examining Eduard a bit more.

"S-sir..." Eduard stuttered out of fear, "I..I want to be back on the-"

"Silence!" The towering beast slammed its last free hand to the ground, nearly crushing some of its own electric soldiers. "Do not ever dare question your creator, organic!" Eduard could see the inside of the Creator, fearing that some kind of laser were going to come out of his mouth. 

 _Strung out_  
_Falling from the big time_  
_Welcome to the infinite black skies_

 _Brain cleansed,_  
_Fractured identity_  
_Fragments and scattered debris_

 _Ohhhh~_  
_Thought contagion_  
_Ohhhh~_  
_Thought contagion_

Eduard knew something really bad was going to happen to him, seeing that he has angered a great being, maybe even a deity to these electric soldiers. None of them reacted to the fury of their leader, standing only still as they watched the hacker struggle. Only until then did his struggle become much greater, when the monstrous beast slammed Eduard into a chamber not too far from its reach. Though totally fine, the real pain was about to begin.

 _Fall down,_  
_Learn when to count it out_  
_Prop me up before I black out_

Some mechanical arms propped Eduard against a metal slab, cuffing his wrists and ankles in the process. It appeared as if he were t-posing, but this wasn't for laughs.

 _Withdraw_  
_Before you're out of time_  
_Clean slate and buried war crimes_

He tried to break free from this prison, only for electricity to shock him from the ankles and the wrists, screaming in agony at the pain this other would brought upon him.

 _You've been bitten by_  
_A true believer_  
_You've been bitten by_  
_Someone who's hungrier than you_  
_You've been bitten by_  
_Someone's false beliefs_

More robotic arms began to assemble the armor found on the electric soldiers onto Eduard, with the visor coming first. He couldn't see anything for a minute, until he felt wires crawl through his scalp and inject themselves into his skull. His being began to change, but not his memories of his home in Tallinn. Then came the chest plate, with wires crawling to his pulse and injecting themselves in the wrist. Then out of nowhere, something struck right into his heart, but isn't proven to be fatal. When will this pain end for Eduard? 

 _Ohhhh~_  
_Thought contagion_  
_Ohhhh~_  
_Thought contagion_

 _They'll never do what you want them to_  
_Give it up and watch it break through_

 _It's too late for a revolution_  
_Brace for the final solution_

Eduard saw through his visor what he normally saw before this mess happened, only now with more technology and other screens vividly flashing before him, adjusting to his pupils with every move he makes. There were so many things Eduard couldn't even understand that were flying all around him, but now all he can think now is that he's been afflicted by thought contagion, and now that he's nothing more but a pawn to serve the Creator.

 _Ohhhh~_  
_Thought Contagion_  
_Ohhhh~_  
_Thought Contagion_

Eduard was still restrained, until the metal slab that he was restrained against him moved downwards. The cuffs finally let go of him as a door opened up in front of him, finally letting him free from this temporary prison and back into the world. He wasn't the same Eduard as he was before, but now he is only one electric soldier out of thousands.

 _Strung out_  
_Falling from the big time_  
_Welcome to the infinite black skies_

 _It's too late for a revolution_  
_Brace for the final solution_

Inside the visor, a window popped up in front of him which began to speak to him as if there was some actual human contact.

"You are to now serve the Creator, 3S71. Since you are considered vital for the Creator due to your skills in manipulating cyberspace, your title is now HX. Do as the Creator wants you to do, and obey their every command."

The window disappeared, and Eduard suddenly felt like he was moving autonomously, but why? It very well turns out that the wires injected into his skull from the visor is making him move as if he were being remotely controlled. He tried to move back, only for the autonomy to move him back in place towards an ever growing army of electric soldiers.

There were thousands and thousands of them, possibly all artificially made by something or someone, standing in a perfect square formation. At this point, Eduard developed a learned helplessness from now being forcefully put into service as an electric soldier to serve the Creator.

The monstrous, skeletal beast sat on its throne of technological junk, overseeing its army of electric soldiers. Eduard was nothing but the same in this army, now lacking his individuality and talent. The only thing that mattered though, was that he was an HX soldier, the hackers that can manipulate and create.

"If you do not do what you are told to do, when you're told to do it, you will be punished!" Bellowed the beast, "Do you understand?!"

"Aye, sir!" The soldiers said, as the sea of visors also flashed those two words. Eduard must do what he is told, or else he might face the worst of consequences. After all, the Creator wasn't a joke after all.

"If you leave my base without proper authorization, I will hunt you down and throw your ass in jail, do you understand?!"

"Aye sir!"

"I can't hear you!"

"Aye sir!"

"Scream it!" The ground shook as the skeletal cyborg beast slammed its right hand on its throne of junk, causing a miniature landslide of old computer hardware.

"Aye sir!"

"Your ass belongs to me now!"

"Aye sir!"

The soldiers went into formation, moving forth into patrol through this new world that Eduard must go through, whether he likes it or not. The formation split into three, with Eduard going straight with his troop while he watched the other troops go the opposite direction. His throat hurt so much, he could no longer speak. He yearned for some water, but who knows if water really exists here? Now Eduard must endure the pain of being forcefully drafted as he also yearned to be back home.


	3. The Dark Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Also known as: Eduard von Bock mcfucking loses it

[Accompanying Song](https://youtu.be/OvP5fGwh0gM)

* * *

 Months have passed ever since Eduard was forcefully been put into service as an electric soldier. His visor or chest plate never separated him, even when he was put in his assigned charging pod, in which appeared to be more like a prison of a thousand cells, all stacked on top of each other.

Eduard really missed Tallinn; He wallowed in regret from ever cracking the code to break the simulation he was supposedly in. He could have gone to hackathons with some hacker friends he befriended from many of those events, even eating free pizza! The longing for home made Eduard grow more and more frustrated, but this frustration of feeling helpless suddenly sparked a rage burning inside: A rage that would gone out of its way to manifest him. Fists clenched, he tried to contain his rage, but somehow just couldn't...

 _I have lived in darkness_  
_For all of my life, I've been pursued_  
_You'd be afraid if you can feel my pain_  
_And if you can see the things I am able to see_

Eduard, while in his first stage of anger began to punch the door between his charging pod to the outside.

 _Break me out!_  
_Break me out!_

His anger grew and grew, nearly becoming nothing but a monster filled with seething rage, with pain fueling this seemingly endless despair. He lunged himself out of his charging pod into the open world, standing on all fours for a brief moment.

_Let me free!_

An alarm went off indicating an electric soldier has gone rogue, with many of them pursuing Eduard in the process.

"Rogue soldier. Rogue soldier." The alarm went off, as a shrill siren blared throughout the building, nearly turning the entire atmosphere red and locking any doors that could possibly let him escape.

 _Break me out!_  
_Break me out!_

The second stage of Eduard's rage began, where Eduard tried his best to fight off the pursuing soldiers after him.

_Set him free!_

_"_ HX-3S71, stop where you are!" A soldier commanded, "You will be electrocuted if you pursue!"

Eduard's rage seemed to never end, fighting the soldiers that have attempted to electrocute him. One by one the soldiers went down, Eduard's rage fueled more and more.

 _I hail from the dark side_  
_For all my life, I've been besieged_  
_You'd be scared_  
_Living with my despair_  
_And if you can feel the things, I am able to feel_

After a good chunk of soldiers were down, Eduard fled to a safe spot to work his keyboard magic, the one thing that kept him close to Tallinn in this vast, unknown world. What appeared to be the lightcycle he had months before appeared in front of him, hopping on as quickly as possible and heading straight into a glass wall.

 _Break me out!_  
_Break me out_  
_Let me flee_

Eduard looked down, seeing a familiar site below him; a vast, cyberpunk city, with the grid earth still there. Not too far from where he broke out lies a vast highway of light, seemingly appearing to be endless strip of road that went nowhere.

 _Break me out!_  
_Break me out_  
_Set me free_

Eduard drove as fast as possible through this electric highway, noticing that behind him, there are electric soldiers in hot pursuit right behind him. They too rode light cycles and quickly caught up to him, using some of the other electric roads that interwove together.

 _Break me out!_  
_Break me out_  
_Let me flee_

Eduard's rage has been engulfed with adrenaline at this point; it was now or never.

 _Break me out!_  
_Break me out_  
_Set me free_

As if from thin air, a laser shot the road in front of Eduard, but miraculously, Eduard was able to successfully leap over the road that crumbled below him. He looked back to see that he was at a road where it seemed like there were many Creators dangling from the air, guarding the side of the road. One of them was slowly closing its jaw, 

_Save me from the Dark Side_

_Break me out!_  
_Break me out_  
_Set me free_

Eduard noticed, however, that there appeared to be more electric soldiers approaching him; this time, they got into formation to block the road in front of him, with Eduard's state of fiery rage beginning to die down at this point. He knew now that this was game over as he witnessed the soldiers turning their light cycles to block the road.

"Halt, rogue!" The soldiers commanded, pointing guns towards Eduard. At this point, he had to stop, or else he would possibly kill someone. Eduard couldn't help but step out of his light cycle and hold his hands up, nearly about to break down in tears. Two soldiers restrained him, with a third one electrocuting him right on the back.

He yelped as the electric shocks went through his whole body, with those shocks worsening in the wrist and skull. The pain was too much for Eduard, both physically and mentally, as his eyes slowly began to close.

"System now on power-conserve mode" That was the last thing he saw in his visor before he eventually blacked out in this hell he is living in.


	4. Dig Down

[Accompanying song](https://youtu.be/Gzu7gl74UW0)

* * *

 The light kissed Eduard's eyes, blessing him with what appeared to be the sight of an operating room all around him. Computers and other equipment surrounded him, though this appeared to be for robotic beings rather than organics like himself. When he looked up, an incredibly bright, white light shone in his face, nearly hurting his eyes.

But something was rather off, though. He lifted his arms up to see that there are no wires left on him, as well as patting all around his head. No visor. He looked down at this chest to see nothing but his old clothes, just like the ones he wore when he entered this vast unknown, only that his clothes were rather charred and ripped from months of not wearing them and being electrocuted from hours before.

As Eduard lifted himself up, a piece of his sweater vest disintegrated upon moving, revealing a bit of his chest. More and more cloth disintegrated, revealing the spot where the chest plate was forcefully installed on him, which burned from the touch. The pain was too much for poor Eduard as he immediately laid back down on the operating table. His breathing turned heavy, and soon was on the verge of an all-out panic attack, which worsened when two sliding doors opened, revealing a team of electric soldiers.

At this point, Eduard just had to scream, now fearing for his own life. Was it the heinous crime he committed back at the base? Who knows. One of the soldiers took off their visor, revealing a young woman that seemingly looked rather familiar to him back home.

"Külikki?" His breathing slowed down, tears nearly forming in his eyes.

Beautiful Külikki, fair as she is, has truly the heart of an aspiring programmer who attended many hackathons with Eduard, even sometimes winning huge contests in the world of programming and hacking. She is the same age as him, brimming with all the youth a woman could ever want. In a competitive environment, they were feared rivals; outside of the hackathon competitions, they were friends merely made for each other.

"Eduard?" She gasped, "You remembered!"

"Külikki, it's a rather long story, and I hope you'll believe me but-"

Eduard was suddenly shushed by Külikki. "Eduard, they're watching. Just let me fix you up while you're here. I'll take you somewhere safe when we're done."

"Can I just at least see the world before I get my visor back on? I've been yearning to see without being interrupted by nothing but data and numbers."

Külikki smiled, chuckling. "Those visors though, they are a pain in the ass. There's important data on one corner of my peripheral vision and then all of a sudden you see rogue soldiers riding on lightcycles on the other corner as the visor literally screams in your ears."

"Yeah, especially since mine was screaming at me when I went rogue!"

For the first time in months, Eduard felt pure happiness! He began laughing, tears flowing down his cheeks as every bit of laughter slipped out of him.

As Külikki operated on Eduard, they continued to chat about this unknown world. Other electric soldiers fixed up his chest plate and visor, with one preparing this rather odd mechanism that appeared to be a tube of some sort.

"Eduard, I can't imagine you fighting in this world with a sweater vest, like some kind of...uh, nerd." Külikki said, "Go in that tube."

Eduard's eyes widened, fearing that a longtime friend would betray him so quickly. "Külikki, I know I've known you for a long time, but I am not in the mood to be tortured."

"Eduard, it's totally harmless!" Külikki reassured him, "All it does is scan your body and it does something wicked cool! I've obtained the code for it in case we ever go back to Tallinn."

Eduard sighed, now knowing that he can trust Külikki, seeing she would never hurt an already traumatized Eduard even more. He hastily stepped in the tube and looked over at Külikki. The door closed, and he noticed some kind of black liquid began to fill the tank.

"Don't panic Eduard, this will help you!" Külikki shouted from outside the tube, with her voice somewhat muffled when he heard her. The liquid quickly began to rise up, and Eduard was on the verge of panicking inside such a small, contained space. The liquid stopped at his neck, and he felt something form onto his body though; a kind of ticklish feeling tingling all over.

"Külikki, what is it doing to me?!" Eduard shouted, hoping that Külikki would at least hear him.

"Just wait until the liquid drains."

Eduard waited patiently for the black liquid to drain down rather slowly, but it soon appeared that some sort of material morphed onto his body, no sewing even required. He looked all over to see a rather neat and uniform texture on this material that felt rather lightweight, yet incredibly durable.

Eduard stepped out of the tube, now sporting what looked more to be like a jumpsuit without a zipper. Then if by magic, the material split by the feet and hands, revealing his skin and allowing him flexibility. Now it appeared to be a jumpsuit, only that his bare feet and hands were exposed.

"See, Eduard? It wasn't so bad after all!" Külikki chuckled, "I know it's hard out here, but I can't imagine the torture that you went through. Let me put my visor and chest plate on, so I blend in with the other soldiers."

"Did they give you an..uh..what's it called...number?"

"Of course they did, dumbass!"

"Jeez Külikki, no need to get all snappy there."

"I'm known as HX-2000."

"Another HX, huh?"

"You're an HX, too?"

"Why of course I am! I'm HX-3S71."

"Good. Now I know what you go by as assigned by the algorithm, so I don't get punished for addressing you as Eduard if I get caught."

Külikki gave Eduard his visor and chestplate back, which immediately snapped back on him as if his body were magnetic. The visor immediately booted back up, with the front displaying a dot that went from left to right until it stopped in the middle and operated like normal. Meanwhile inside the visor, the AI greeted Eduard like normal, as if he never went rogue in the first place, only with the many screens in his peripheral vision still there.

Külikki lead Eduard outside, with some lower-ranking soldiers saluting the two for being a much higher rank than them.

"I got your lightcycle, HX-3S71." Külikki said, getting onto the lightcycle that was stolen from Eduard.

"I mean, I hastily made it when I went rogue, HX-2000." Eduard said, "It's not as nice as the lightcycle I had when I got here in the first place."

"Who cares? It's a freaking lightcycle, like the ones in TRON! Except we're in some kind of plane of reality beyond the very imagination instead of literally being inside a computer. Come on!"

Eduard got on the lightcycle with Külikki in front of him, holding onto her as tightly as he can so he wouldn't fly off from how fast the lightcycle went. Now was a good time to look at his surroundings; purple sky speckled with all sorts of stars, the earth full of grids, and what appeared to look like multiple Creators hanging limp on the side of the road, just like Big Brother watching all. The two drove back to the cyberpunk metropolis that appeared as if it was all abandoned where Eduard went rogue hours before. However, not far outside the metropolis, a little building that looked almost like an old Blockbuster store stood in the middle of nowhere, but what lies deep inside was something even bigger.

Külikki dismounted off the lightcycle along with Eduard, parking it outside. "Well Eduard, this is my home base," she said, "There's something bigger happening in there, but I can't say or else my visor would alert everyone."

"What? A rebellion-"

Külikki shushed Eduard, but it was too late.

"Eduard you fucking idiot! That's a forbidden word, and now our location is revealed! Quickly get inside, we'll brief what's going on."

The two rushed inside the old Blockbuster, quickly seeing that inside was a rebel militia of electric soldiers of all types.

Eduard took off his visor and saw the scene of soldiers mingling with each other, a scene he never saw when he was deployed months before.

"You...you started this?" Eduard was at a loss for words for what his frenemy from Tallinn did in this cyberpunk world.

"It's a long story, Eduard, probably just like how the hell you got here."

She stood up on the counter, grabbing Eduard's wrist to bring him up as well. Soon, Eduard watched from what he never expected out of a teenage girl in the first place.

"Attention!" She said, as if she were a drill sergeant, "Formation!"

The soldiers stood in front of her in perfect order, saluting to their leader.

"For the time we've been here as a group, we have suffered losses that could have destroyed us, but folks, we have a new hope in which I and some others found while rogue. Not long ago, an HX went rogue and successfully captured it, but this is no ordinary HX. HX-3S71, or my friend from the Simulation, Eduard von Bock."

Eduard was flushed from Külikki, giving high honors to a dweeb, nerd like himself.

"Well, uhhh...hi. I'm HX-3S71, but...uhm...I might have accidentally alerted the algorithm that we exist, but I have some inspiring words in case we have to fight the oncoming onslaught so at least we can be motivated?"

Külikki glared at Eduard, seeing that in her mind, he is just embarrassing himself at this point. At this point, she was pretty pissed off that Eduard set off the alarm that will locate them.

 _When hope and love has been lost_  
_And you fall to the ground_  
_You must find a way_  
_When the darkness descends_  
_And you're told it's the end_  
_You must find a way_

 _When God decides to look the other way_  
_And a clown takes the throne_  
_We must find a way_  
_Face the firing squad_  
_Against all the odds_  
_You will find a way_

Eduard suddenly began to clap and stamp his feet to the beat of his somewhat inspirational speech.

 _Dig down!_  
_Dig down!_

 _And find faith_  
_And when you're close to the edge_

 _With a gun to your head_  
_You must find a way_

 _When friends are thin on the ground_  
_And they try to divide us_  
_We must find a way_  
_We have entered the fray_  
_And we will not obey_  
_We must find a way!_  
_Yeah!_

Eduard raised his arms to the army he has now inspired, who then began to clash their weapons together and stamp their feet.

 _Dig down!_  
_Dig down!_  
_Dig down!_  
_And find faith_

 _And when they've left you for dead_  
_(Dig down)_  
_And you can only see red_  
_(Dig down)_  
_You must find a way_

Külikki looked over at Eduard, nodding in approval at this speech that didn't seem so embarrassing in the first place. She 

"Dig down!" Eduard exclaimed, raising his fist in the air.

 _Dig down!_  
_Dig down!_  
_Dig down!_  
_Find faith!_

 _We won't let them divide (Dig down!)_  
_W_ _e will never abide (Dig down!)_  
_W_ _e will find a way_

 _Dig down!_  
_Dig down!_  
  _Dig down!_  
_F_ _aith_

 _Dig down!_  
_D_ _ig down!_  
_F_ _aith_

The soldiers have gone absolutely wild at Eduard's speech, soon applauding him for moving them during a time they needed something like him.

"I guess that wasn't so bad after all, Eduard." Külikki said, patting him on the back, "After all, they are going apeshit in a good way. I might have been pissed off from you saying the forbidden word, but I forgive you after making a pretty damn good speech."

The sight was truly a blessing, until the soldiers turned back and suddenly reacted, seemingly out of nowhere. But how come have they reacted so violently in such an uplifting situation? 


	5. Propaganda

[Accompanying Song](https://youtu.be/jpemBbdkXkg)

* * *

 The sound of glass windows shattering burst through much of this old Blockbuster store with a small squadron of XP electric soldiers jumping through the empty window frames, along with a couple of soldiers that wore something on their backs. Upon closer inspection, Eduard's eyes widened, fear consuming his every fiber of life.

"Oh my god Külikki, they have flamethrowers!" Eduard exclaimed, "We're seriously fucked!"

"Come on! We can't just stand there!" Külikki growled, "We gotta fight!"

This was the first time Eduard actually had to fight ever since he was forced to become an electric soldier. He watched Külikki go into the fray, only for Eduard to cower at the sight, retreating behind a shelf chock full of old VHS tapes as the fight went on. He took a peek, only to see a dense, white smoke fill in a good chunk of the old, abandoned store. Many of the soldiers cowered, giving the opposing force a good chance to scour the area for the culprit who triggered the loyalist electric soldiers to storm the Blockbuster. One soldier, thankfully a part of the rebellion, found Eduard and hid with him.

"What's that white smoke over there?" Eduard asked, "Is it like some kind of poison?"

"It's called antivirus," said the electric rebel, "Anything it touches will disintegrate it as data, even on organics like you. The XF soldiers handle it because they are experienced with chemical means of destruction, but their ranks are much lower since the Creator expects a chemical mishap to happen to them."

"HX-3S71, report yourself, traitor!" An electric soldier stood in the center of the old shop, but something seemed off about her. They appeared to be much higher ranking than the other soldiers that surrounded her, along with wearing heels that also served as a gun holster for smaller guns.

"Who is she?" Eduard looked over to his comrade again.

"That's XOF-6050, she's absolutely brutal. She will seduce anyone who dares go against the Creator, swaying them to fight for the Creator once and for all!"

"Well, in that case, I can try to un-seduce her? I'm seventeen after all, and people find that nerds attempting to seduce someone is absolutely nasty."

"How the hell do you un-seduce someone? I get that you're saying she's a pedophile if she seduces you because of your age, but what the hell do you mean by un-seducing?"

"Watch and learn, my friend."

Eduard stood up, revealing himself behind the shelf of VHS tapes. The electric rebel tried to stop him from doing a stupid act, but it was far too late now. All the rebel can do was facepalm at what could possibly be the stupidest thing Eduard could possibly do.

"XOF-6050, I'm here," Eduard said, "I'm the filthy fucking traitor, a heinous piece of shit going against the Creator of all Creation."

The officer approached Eduard and with one sudden thrust of her arm, pinned him against the wall. Her visor began to blink red hearts, along with her chest plate having some hearts swirling.

"So, we got what you call yourself a filthy fucking traitor, huh?" She said, putting her finger under Eduard's chin, "Tell me love, why go against our great creator, let alone, your own Creator?"

Eduard began to sweat profusely. What a charming beast from the depths of hell! An absolute siren! He knew he had to do something fast, reminding himself to kick his own ass later for getting himself into this hot mess.

"Well, there's one thing I must admit, XOF-6050..."

"Hm?"

"You're really reminding me of something~"

"Just tell me, you damn traitor."

Using his keyboard, he typed in one word that began to seemingly scream as if it were in a heavy metal band; that very word is "Propaganda", showing up in different fonts as lights began to flash all around the entire shop.

Eduard began to click his fingers, as if he were attempting to seduce XOF-6050.

 _Floozy_  
_You've got me trapped in a dark fantasy world_  
_Don't you know you make me woozy_  
_You have me wrapped around your little finger_

XOF-6050 glanced around, not knowing what the hell was even going on with this soldier that is somehow trying to reverse-seduce her.

 _Baby don't you know you can't lose_  
_You make me offers that I can't refuse_  
_You keep telling pretty lies_  
_You toy with the truth_  
_Oh, you're killing me with your..._

_(Computerized shouting of Propaganda)_

As Eduard made a computerized sound shouting "Propaganda" at XOF-6050, soon she realized that this rebel soldier, who was a lower rank than her was mocking not only her, but the Creator as well, comparing the Other Plane to nothing but a despotic society. She began to equip her high-grade weapon that was attached to her back, ready to fire at Eduard.

 _Cold chick_  
_You ate my soul just like a death eater_  
_I'm the ocean, You're an oil slick_  
_Now I am choking on your thought pollution_

 _Baby don't you know you can't lose_  
_You make me offers that I can't refuse_  
_You keep telling pretty lies_  
_You toy with the truth_  
_Oh, you're killing me with your..._

_(Computerized Propaganda noises)_

XOF-6050 began to fume in rage, which gave Eduard a good chance to escape the wrath of the seductress. He hopped on the cashier's counter as the officer ran after him.

"XFs, track down HX-3S71 and destroy him with the antivirus!" She screeched, as the XF soldiers went after Eduard, along with the officer joining. "I will get the HX back in service to the Creator, even if it means drastic measures!" She ran up to Eduard with a burst of speed, tackling him to the point he almost lost balance and fell off the counter, but got his balance back.

 _Can't lose_  
_You make me offers that I can't refuse_  
_You keep telling pretty lies, babe_  
_Baby don't you know you can't lose_

 _You make me offers that I can't refuse, yeah_  
_You keep telling pretty lies, babe_  
_Don't you know that you just can't lose_

 _You make me offers that I can't refuse, yeah_  
_You keep telling pretty lies_  
_You play with the truth_  
_Oh, you're killing me with your..._

_(Computerized Propaganda noises)_

The XF soldiers began to spray antivirus in Eduard's direction, but there was also a good chance that XOF-6050 could possibly dissolve in the antivirus. With one good headbutt, Eduard knocked XOF-6050 into the antivirus smog, seeing that her body soon became nothing but strings of code dissolve away from her. The XF soldiers watched in absolute horror that their commander is dissolving from this highly toxic substance that they intended to spray on Eduard! They hastily attempted to clear the smog to save their commander, but it was far too late. All that was left from XOF-6050 was her chest plate and visor, though at this point, was heavily damaged due to how strong antivirus is chemically.

Eduard snapped his fingers, seeing fear through the visors of the XF soldiers.

"Get em, boys."

A good amount of the rebel soldiers attacked the XF soldiers out of surprise, eventually disarming their chemical flamethrowers. Though some managed to escape, a very good portion of the XF soldiers either surrendered on their own or were knocked out.

Külikki approached Eduard, giving him a high-five and clashing weapons together to celebrate Eduard's grand victory against a high ranking electric soldier.

"Well, guess I was wrong there." The soldier that hid with Eduard behind the shelf approached him, giving him a nice, hearty pat on the back, nearly to the point it hurts.

"Eduard von Bock does it again!" Eduard boasted as he crossed his arms proudly, "Not going to lie, that XOF-6050 was really seductive and I thought I was nearly going to fall into the siren's trap."

"But the way you just pushed her into the antivirus, Eduard!" Külikki said, "That was the dopest thing ever!!"

The soldier that doubted Eduard held out his hand. "Call me Crews. Former XP soldier, XP-7E51. I ain't organic like you two, but I sympathize with the rebel cause wholeheartedly." Eduard shook his hand, clashing weapons as a means of friendship for the two.

"You know, Eduard, we haven't given our cause a name," Külikki said, "We've been arguing ever since the formation of the resistance over what we should be called."

Eduard's eyes lit up, "Me naming this rebel group?"

"Go ahead, Eduard," Crews added, "I think you deserve to give us a name for doing that sick move to defeat a seductress. I mean, I would probably be infatuated at that point if I were a sudden dumbass and decided to do that."

Eduard put his thumb and index finger on his chin, thinking of names to give the cause.  _Supermassive Black Hole? Nah, that's pretty stupid._ Eduard thought in the depths of his mind.  _Stockholm Syndrome? Er, I think Berwald would be offended if I were to come home and say that our rebel group is called Stockholm Syndrome. Wait, I just remembered something! Since all of the nations have been colonizing Mars at this point..._

Eduard suddenly lit up, an idea striking him at the perfect opportunity.

"Looks like Eduard got an idea, Külikki." Crews said,

"We shall be called the Knights of Cydonia!" Eduard exclaimed out of seemingly nowhere.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Külikki said,

"Well Külikki, if you remember back home, some of the most powerful fr- I mean, nations of the world are colonizing Mars at this point, with the very few colonists settling there. One of the regions there is perfect for colonization called Cydonia, since it's all flat like a steppe!"

"Eduard, you sound like a nation." Crews said, "But damn, I like the name. It has flow and it's pretty smooth. I can call myself a Knight of Cydonia and be proud of it."

"Huh, yeah." Külikki added, "It does sound pretty smooth. Anyways, since we have Eduard, our plight might almost be over due to Eduard joining us. Eduard, Crews, we're going to plan our tactics for the Great Battle. Come, we need strategists."

As Külikki was bringing Eduard and Crews to what appeared to be a closet, Eduard had a question burning inside of him. Külikki put her hand against the closet door, granting access to the three.

"Hey Külikki?"

"Yeah?" She began to open the door to a vault that was attached to the floor, where most of the secret stuff was happening.

"I've been meaning to ask you ever since I woke up in that operating room for electric soldiers but, erm...how did you even get here in the first place?"

Külikki sighed as she opened up a vault that lead underground, allowing Crews to go in first.

"I was looking for you, Eduard." Külikki admitted, "Around four months ago was a hackathon you promised to go to with me. I kept texting and calling you over and over, only for you to never pick up because, you know, you'd always pick up whenever I'd call or text you. Then I texted you after the hackathon and...nothing. I thought you were mad at me for no reason, Eduard, but I know you so well that you would never do that! So I had to take drastic measures and erm...I broke in your apartment."

Eduard's eyes widened, a lump suddenly growing in his throat. "Oh my god, how could I have forgotten that hackathon?!" He exclaimed, "I...Külikki, I'm so sorry..." Tears began to well up in his eyes, "I promised for so many months only to let you down, and my dumbass caused all of this!"

He began to sob on Külikki, feeling the pain of letting down his greatest friend and competitive rival. All Külikki could do at this point was to comfort him as best as possible, hugging him while patting his back.

"You know, Eduard, that portal thing you made is fairly impressive. I think if you were to show it off somewhere, you would have made the news!"

Eduard looked down at Külikki, still tears in his eyes. "Well if I did, then many innocent people would have to deal with this stupid Creator anyways! It would have been my fault anyways that I started all of this bullshit and then this stupid plane of reality interfering with our reality!"

"Think of this way Eduard; you made a huge sacrifice on behalf of all of Estonia, no wait, the whole world! All this is Eduard, is a grim reminder that we are living in a simulation, but we need to break free from it."

Eduard looked down, and then gazed back up to Külikki. "Hey, Külikki?"

"Yeah?"

"I should have thanked you before for saving me from the hot pursuit."

"I can't let a frenemy get owned by some electric soldier scum like that." She then kissed Eduard on the cheek, leaving him behind as she descended down into the chamber.

Eduard's face was red with embarrassment; so embarrased, he nearly knocked over a broom in the closet that he stood in, causing a bit of a ruckus to the point Crews opened up the vault door that lead underground.

"Hey Eduard?" Crews said, sticking his head out of the entrance, "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good." 


	6. Break it to Me

[Accompanying Song](https://youtu.be/t-m0iYJEyyE)

* * *

Külikki, Eduard, and Crews sat around a round table that projected different holograms, including a map of the Other Plane and all sorts of different tactics to fight the Creator itself. Some other soldiers of the Knights of Cydonia were present, suggesting their thoughts and writing notes from the meeting.

"So, Külikki, do you think we should have something more efficient than lightcycles?" Eduard suggested, as he was typing something on the keyboard he had always held close to him.

"What are you even talking about, Eduard?" Crews said, "Lightcycles are literally the only way to get around here quickly!"

"Not anymore they aren't!"

Eduard pushed the enter key on his keyboard, which soon began to render a model of a horse in real-time out of thin air. At first, the horse was rather minuscule, though as more bits of data added on, the horse grew bigger and bigger until it became a normal-sized Thankfully, there was enough room for the horse to stand itself, though this wasn't really a normal horse in itself: it lacked pupils and had a neon green grid pattern all around its body with a mane that looked like the stars.

"What the hell is that?!" Crews was flabbergated to the point he nearly fell over his chair.

"That's a horse, Crews." Külikki explained, "For thousands of years, the human race tamed this beast as means of transportation, until we suddenly decided to just, erm, abandon them in favor for more mechanical methods of transportation. Also, Eduard, why did you make a horse anyways?"

"Well, if we were going to be called the Knights of Cydonia," Eduard answered, "Then we need a proper steed for knights like us."

"We could just use lightcycles, though."

"What I noticed about the lightcycles, Külikki, is that they emit some kind of light streak behind them and destroy a bit of the grid below us. If we can hide those little streaks by riding horses instead, we could possibly hide our tracks and do a surprise attack on the Creator and its army."

"I never thought of that, Eduard." Crews said, "Just copy and paste me another one of these horses later."

As Crews finished his statement, the door suddenly slammed opened into the wall with a soldier shaking in fear. "HX-2000! One of the XF soldiers we captured has gone rogue!" The soldier said, "It's trying to find antivirus to spray onto us!"

Külikki stood up, pushing all of her plans aside towards Eduard. "What?!"

"How did it even go rogue?" Eduard asked out of curiosity, "And erm, why did it go rogue in the first place?"

"I can explain later, but we need to quell a rogue soldier, and now!" Crews said, grabbing Eduard by the wrist. "Our cause might be in grave danger if it reaches the Antivirus!"

Eduard grabbed his keyboard, running alongside Külikki and Crews to the quarters where captive soldiers are held to be reprogrammed in. Soldiers in their way stood aside, saluting to the three as they ran past by, too busy fearing that their growing army of rebels are going to be crushed by one rogue soldier serving the Creator. In the containment chamber, an HX soldier ran over to the three, begging to its knees. "HX-2000, this XF soldier nearly killed me and already killed one of the other HX soldiers!"

"Has it gotten its hands on the antivirus, HX-M053?" Külikki asked,

"It's very close to."

"Crews, get HX-M053 to safety. Eduard, come with me because you know how to quell rogue robots back home."

"Külikki, that was only one time!" Eduard protested, "One time!"

"If you can quell a rogue robot back home that saved our entire city, then you can for sure quell a rogue soldier and save the entirety of the Knights of Cydonia!"

Eduard gave in, whipping out his keyboard and typing in furiously to render a cable to attach to the rogue XF soldier. The cable couldn't go straight to the rogue soldier, so the two had to deal with fighting the rogue soldier manually, which was proven to be extremely dangerous. He created transparent walls to secure the rogue XF soldier, even though it was furiously trying to escape, which did break down due to how little code there was to contain for the walls to stand.

Külikki glanced over at Eduard for a split second, until the rogue soldier pounced on top of her, nearly about to snap her neck. "Eduard!" she cried, "Help!"

He looked over to see his friend and rival on the verge of death, quickly scrambling over to secure it. He hastily attached the cable on the back of the rogue soldier as Külikki tried her best to fight off the soldier on top of her. Upon connecting his keyboard to the rogue soldier, a wall of code appeared in front of him; this was the entire framework for the electric soldier, from the movements to its assigned ranking. This was proven to be extremely challenging, as he had to quickly find the bit of code that made the soldier go rogue all while his longtime friend and rival is nearly going to have her neck broken by an artificial lifeform.

Eduard looked aside to see Külikki losing her strength, which made his heart beat much faster due to the gravity of the situation, adrenaline rushing through his arms and fingers. His typing grew much faster, faster than he ever typed before. Sweat ran down his head, soon on the verge of overheating. Through this endless maze of code, he soon found the word "ROGUE" blending with a string of letters and numbers, in which he quickly typed in "DEACTIVATE". Upon typing that one word, he heard Külikki shriek, fearing the worst has happened to her.

"Külikki!" Eduard said, scrambling over to her aid, "Külikki, speak to me!"

"I'm okay, Eduard." Külikki said, "The soldier just let go of me and erm, flopped on me."

Eduard lifted up the arm of the now deactivated XF soldier and dropped it. Nothing. If it were human, we'd assume it's dead at this point, but the closest thing we can say about the consciousness of an artificial Electric Soldier is that it was simply knocked out from one word.

"Alright folks, just get this guy on an operating table." Eduard said, as a squad of other rebel soldiers rolled an operating table over. "I refuse to code individual beings due to my personal philosophy, but I guess I will assist if anyone needs me for dire situations." As some of the other HX rebels got the deactivated XF soldier onto an operating table, Eduard lifted Külikki back on her feet, dusting off her uniform.

"Thanks, Eduard." Külikki said, "I don't know what would have happened to me if you weren't here, or even if I didn't find you go rogue in the first place."

"Aw shucks, Külikki," Eduard replied, "I guess this might be the second time I quelled something rogue?"

"Well, this one didn't have a virus like the robot that nearly destroyed Tallinn. I assume rogue soldiers just, erm, decide to go rogue when needed?"

The HX rebels began to operate on the XF soldier, until it soon began to twitch. Eduard raised his arm in front of Külikki in case the soldier has gone rogue again, asserting his dominance over the soldier that might go rogue soon.

 _(Break it to me)_  
_(Break it to me)_  
_(Break it to me)_

The soldier suddenly sprung up not to attack anyone, but appeared as if it were begging for its life.

 _Don't dress it up but don't beat around the bush_  
_And don't cover it up but don't push it underground  
__And don't keep it inside and don't edit and redact_  
_And no dumbing it down_  
_And don't fake it, just_

 _(Break it to me)_  
_(Break it to me)_  
_(Break it to me)_

Everyone looked at each other, hearing this soldier's pleas as if it had just entered a tunnel leading to insanity. Eduard tried to calm the soldier as best as he can, only for Crews to intervene, telling Eduard to let the soldier be.

 _And I can handle the truth  
__I can cope with whatever you're holding back_  
_No need to sugar coat_

 _(Just Break it to me)_  
_(Break it to me)_

_(Just break it to me)_

_I know how to mend_

_I can rise high above the ashes_  
_I'll re-invent_  
_I will re-emerge_

 _(Break it to me)_  
_(Break it to me)_

 _Don't dress it up but don't beat around the bush_  
_And don't cover it up but don't push it underground  
__And don't keep it inside and don't edit and redact_  
_And no dumbing it down_  
_And don't fake it, just_

 _(Break it to me)_  
_(Just break it to me)  
_  
_I know how to mend_  
_I can rise high above the ashes_  
_I'll re-invent_  
_I will re-emerge_

 _(Break it to me)_  
_(Break it to me)_  


As if it seemingly came from nowhere, the soldier began to wildly twitch, with its visor and chest plate going absolutely haywire, seemingly as if the soldier were about to spontaneously explode from all of this panic and fear running through. Crews and some other HX rebels had to intervene, restraining the wildly flailing soldier around.

 _(Break it to me)_  
_(Break it to me)_  
_(Break it to me)_  
_(Break it to me)_

After hearing the pleas from the XF soldier on the operating table, it began to sob heavily, soon lying flat again from the rather exhausting, long plea it gave out.

"Eduard, find the identity of this XF soldier." Külikki ordered, as Eduard plugged his keyboard back into the sobbing soldier. This time, he took his sweet time to scroll through the XF soldier's code to find his assigned code name given from the algorithm inside while the others continued to restrain the soldier down as to not attack anyone.

"XF-K98Z?" Eduard asked, putting his hand on its shoulder, "C-calm down! We will not punish you for failing."

"I'm defective!" the soldier cried, "Just tear me apart, dammit!"

"XF-K98Z, as I said, I am not going to punish you. Why would I tear apart a valuable soldier anyways?"

"T-the Creator...it will destroy soldiers that are deemed imperfect...like me...and all of the others led by XOF-6050... You know it, HX."

"Is that true, Crews?" Eduard glanced over to Crews, who stood aside to watch the operation and intervene in case.

"Unfortunately, Eduard." Crews answered solemnly, "If we didn't capture those soldiers from XOF-6050, they would have been torn apart. When that happens, their parts could go from anywhere from being reused to make more electric soldiers or probably in the Creator's throne of computerized gizmos and other junk."

Eduard sighed, putting his hand on XF-K98Z's shoulder. "Look, XF-K98Z," Eduard began, "I know how hard it is when you've failed someone. Back where I come from, there was this guy named Ivan who would torture me and some of my friends a lot!"

"And why should I know this, HX-3S71?"

"Wow, you know my name already." Eduard was surprised that a soldier he just met knew his assigned number already, possibly due to XOF-6050 shouting Eduard's assigned number so the electric soldiers can attack. "It's because for a good amount of my life, I've gone through a whole lot of shit with this Ivan guy. He gets mad when his needs aren't fulfilled, just like the Creator. Well, er, they're both equally bad, but listen here, my friend, we're gonna get up and fight alongside each other to liberate the Other Plane."

At this point, XF-K98Z began to calm down, now only going from sobbing to utter confusion at Eduard's seemingly awkward story. "What's a liberate?"

"It's when we defeat the Creator and all of us could do whatever we want without that Creator looming over us. Technically, we liberated you from the Creator's army, but this fight ain't over yet."

"Say, pal, we're gonna give you a new name," Crews said, "I've liberated myself from being XP-73R1 and just call myself Crews."

"But why in the world would you give up your assigned number like that?" XF-K98Z said, perplexed. "I was always called XF-K98Z and will still refer to myself as that."

"You see, me and my friend HX-2000 are organics," Eduard explained, "Where we came from, we already have names given to us ever since we were given life into this world. HX-2000 is Külikki, and I, HX-3S71, am Eduard von Bock. Our names usually have meanings too, but let's not get too deep into name meaning behind humans."

"Erm, Eduard-I mean, HX-3S71, I and many others have never had such unique names like that. All we are is just our ranking and a whole sort of numbers given to us from the algorithm." XF-K98Z stammered, "I..I don't think individuality is a good idea..."

"You know, how about we just call you K9? It still has your number, plus where me and Külikki come from, it has a meaning."

"A-and what does it mean?"

"Well, it's either a dog or one of our teeth."

"I don't think I can understand what those are, HX-3S71."

"I'll explain later," Külikki said, "Crews, return K9 to their other comrades and train them. Eduard, come with me. We still have planning to do and figure out how we're going to get that horse out of there."


	7. The Void

[Accompanying Song](https://youtu.be/J6PDCN8Vbko)

* * *

 

Back at the meeting room, Eduard and Külikki sat around the table where different holograms flashed around different images, as the horse Eduard created loafed around behind him. Eduard however, was suddenly feeling a lot more gloom from the events taking place from the past couple of hours. 

"Eduard?" Külikki asked, "Are you okay?"

"I...I don't feel right, Külikki." Eduard replied rather morosely, soon growing into sobs. "I...I caused so much chaos here. Why am I even fighting for you? Why are you fighting against the Creator, Külikki? What's the point of fighting someone that's going to literally crush us to our deaths or even just-?" 

"Eduard, why would you-"

Out of nowhere, Eduard slammed his fist on the table and stood up, grabbing his keyboard in the process. "I've had enough, Külikki." He shouted, "I don't know how much longer I can handle being the supposed 'savior' of this fucking army! Hell, I don't even know how much I can fight because I always think I'm nothing but a pathetic loser nerd who can't do jack shit other than hacking!" Eduard pinched the rendered horse behind him, shrinking it down to a size he can safely put in his hand.

"Eduard!" Külikki tried to reach out for Eduard, only for him to storm out of the meeting room once she was going to say something. 

In the now-trashed Blockbuster caused by the loyalist electric soldiers trying to capture him, Eduard kicked over a shelf, spilling over a bunch of VHS tapes that scattered all over the floor out of anger and desperation. He hopped over the broken glass windows, trying to not cut himself from the glass shards that could possibly kill someone. The lightcycle Külikki had to take Eduard to this old Blockbuster was still here, but he had a good reason why he brought his 3D-rendered horse with him. He placed the horse on the ground, which then grew back to its normal size.

"I needed some companionship while i'm out," Eduard said to his horse, which simply huffed at the distressed hacker. He mounted the horse, which then a saddle grew beneath him to fit him for a smooth ride to somewhere he needed some alone time. As he positioned himself comfortably, he put his visor on as a GPS to find out where he will ride off to and to protect his eyes, though this comes with great risks. With one hearty "Hyah!", the horse set off into the distance, not knowing where Eduard will go this time. 

Intrusive thoughts clouded his mind as he rode into the distance. Soon he ended up on the road where the past Creators hung alongside as if they were hung by a noose, watching his every movement and to act if something were to happen. Those intrusive thoughts grew more and more as he and his trusty horse moved forward, but he tried his best to fight them off. 

_They'll say, no one can see us  
_ __That we're estranged and all alone  
_ _ __They believe nothing can reach us  
_ _ __And pull us out of the boundless gloom_ _

_They're wrong_   
_They're wrong_   
_They're wrong_   
_Yeah, baby, they're wrong_   
_They're wrong_   
_They're wrong_

_They'll say the sun is dying_   
_And the fragile can't be saved_   
_And the cold, it will devour us_   
_And we won't rise up and slay giants_

_They're wrong_   
_They're wrong_   
_They're wrong_   
_Yeah, baby, they're wrong_   
_They're wrong_   
_They're wrong_

Eduard suddenly heard something that sounded like a motorcycle revving up to build more speed! He looked behind him to see a rather familiar face catching up to him, eventually getting up to speed to the point they're riding beside him. It was who he thought it was, riding the light cycle!

"Külikki!" Eduard began to panic, "Why are you following me like this?!" 

"Listen to me, Eduard!" she said, taking off her visor, with her long, ginger hair blowing from the wind, "Just hear me out!" 

_It takes a leap of faith_   
_To awake from these delusions_   
_You are the coder and avatar_   
_A star_

Eduard realized that Külikki has an excellent point, though the intrusive thoughts of doubt continued clouding up his mind as he rode. This time, because of Külikki's motivation, these intrusive thoughts began to wane down.

_They'll say, no one will find us_   
_That we're estranged and all alone_   
_They believe nothing can reach us_   
_And pull us out of the boundless gloom_

_They're wrong_   
_They're wrong_   
_They are wrong_   
_Baby, they're wrong_   
_They're wrong_   
_They're wrong_

Eduard suddenly stopped his horse, in which she did as well on the light cycle.

"Hey, Külikki, I'm really sorry about earlier," Eduard said, dismounting off his horse, "I think the gravity of this situation has really gotten to me and I just had to lash out-"

"Eduard, chill." Külikki said, putting her finger against his lips playfully, "It's okay! We're human after all!"

"I think this isn't the safest place to confess stuff. After all, there are a bunch of Creators watching our every single movement. One of them shot some kind of laser at me when I was on hot pursuit! But it looks like the part of the road the Creator fired a laser at seemingly rebuilt itself, though." 

"Yeah, you're right. I know a pretty neat place to go to, with a view of the city."

"What city- Oh...that city." 

"Definitely not Tallinn though, but it's more of a cyberpunk metropolis in my opinion."

"Yeah, that city, where I was stationed at for a bit."

"I'll race ya~" 

"We'll see about that, miss." 

Eduard and Külikki suddenly sped off together while Külikki was guiding Eduard to this hidden spot she found when she was here in the Other Plane. This was just like as if two children were playing tag, only that they were playing a much more advanced game of tag where they were much, much faster.

The two stopped at a cliff that overlooked the city where Eduard was stationed as an HX soldier. Right behind them stood a palm tree with coconuts, seemingly appearing to be the only tree within this vast area.

"Hey, how'd you find this place?" Eduard asked, "I've been here longer than you, but it really feels like you know this place much more than I do."

Külikki sighed, nearly on the verge of tears. "Well, Eduard, I hate to say it, but when I came here, I was fairly lucky."

"What do you mean?"

"When I was an HX soldier, there was an XOF officer that I really looked up to, which pretty much started this counter-movement against the Creator."

"Who were they?"

"They're called XOF-73V0, who was highly respected among their troops, including me. He kind of reminded me of you, Eduard."

"Wait...how? Nobody wants to be like me anyways."

"XOF-73V0 was truly charming when you got to know him, just like you. But soon he realized that seeing the other officers treat their soldiers badly and the Creator truly being garbage, he realized now was the time to begin an insurgency to fight back."

"What ever happened to XOF-73V0?"

Külikki was close to choking on her own tears. "One of the first battles we fought...I was standing beside XOF-73V0...and when we fought, I witnessed my beloved officer being attacked by four electric soldiers all at once, but I couldn't help them because my life was on the line too; I was also close to dying because I too, was getting attacked. But when the battle was over, I had to make sure XOF-73V0 was still operational, because he meant so much to me and our squadron..."

Külikki was crying hard to the point she could no longer speak. Eduard awkwardly wrapped his arm around her, trying his darn best to comfort her. From what he can see, he can understand what happened to the officer that Külikki was dearly close to. 

"I'm terribly sorry that I asked that-"

"No, Eduard, it's okay, you had to know this anyways."

"Külikki, you don't have to tell me everything."

"I have to, Eduard. I want to be a strong woman in life. I don't want others to make me seem like a wuss, you know. Most men see themselves as strong, and I hardly see strong women, and I want to be strong. XOF-73V0 gave me the torch of this countermovement, after all."

"Külikki, that's pretty much why I stormed out earlier."

Her eyes widened. "But Eduard, you're a strong, trustworthy man!"

"Well, to tell you the truth, Külikki, I wanted to tell you this. I'm nothing but a coward because I run away from these kinds of things a lot because, well, I got hurt a lot growing up and erm, I'm just scared to act. But at the same time, people's perceptions are different than my own perception of myself." Eduard looked at Külikki, smiling at her as tears ran down his face.

"Maybe it's okay to break these stereotypes of what people think of men and women; after all, we are human, are we?"

"You couldn't have said it better, Eduard."

"And Külikki?"

"Hm?"

"Will you believe me if I tell you this?"

"Of course, Eduard. I can trust you."

"It's...really hard to say this, but you know about these legends of humanized nations roaming the Earth?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, upon entering the Other Plane, the creator grabbed me and classified me as something called a superorganic."

Külikki covered her mouth in shock, "You're the superorganic?!"

"How did you know?"

"I overheard a conversation once on a supposed superorganic joining the army! Then I remembered that back home there were legends of the—Eduard, are you telling me..."

"It's true, Külikki, I am a superorganic; a nation. Together, we're going to kick that Creator's skeleton ass."

Külikki was speechless at the bombshell Eduard dropped. Out of seemingly nowhere, Külikki glanced around, making sure that nobody was looking and suddenly pressed her lips against Eduard's, embracing themselves in this moment that no human could ever imagine they could get themselves into. Eduard, upon releasing his lips from Külikki's, covered his face.

"W-why did you do that?" Eduard pleaded, still embarrassed from being kissed.

"So I can prove to someone that I just kissed the entire country of Estonia."

"Just...don't tell Crews or K9, okay? And when we get back to Tallinn, just keep this to yourself, please!"

"It's not like they're gonna know who the superorganic is anyways, silly. They aren't organic like us, so what's the point?"

Eduard chuckled, mounting back on his grid horse. "Race you back?"

"Always."

 


	8. Knights of Cydonia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> please look at the thumbnail for Knights of Cydonia uploaded by 2KingofLeon2 because you'll thank me and start laughing your ass off

[Accompanying Song](https://youtu.be/z9D71pQaTnc)

* * *

 

Upon returning to the old Blockbuster, Crews was with K9, watching the two return from their break. K9 was much calmer than from before, not being needed to be restrained from Crews. Eduard and Külikki pulled up, dismounting off their mounts.

"Hey, Eduard," Crews greeted, "Where were you all this time? I was getting worried the Creator found you."

"I just needed time to myself, Crews." Eduard answered, patting his grid horse, "Stress really gets to you, yeah?"

"Hm, yeah. Organics aren't well adjusted to pressure after all."

"I've been doubting myself ever since I joined this movement, but I guess a little help and validation from my friends really makes it a lot easier on you." 

Eduard's horse looked over at K9, which greatly spooked both of them. The horse whinnied loudly, and K9 hid behind Crews out of fear. Eduard noticed that his horse has been spooked, trying his best to calm it down.

"Wh-what is...that thing?!" K9 stammered, shivering to the point they almost fainted from the sight of a computerized beast, only getting onto his knees. Eduard slowly approached K9, reaching his hand out to help them back on their feet. K9 was rather hesitant to grasp Eduard's hand, but had to due to not being used to not having a huge pack of antivirus on their back. 

"This is a horse, K9." Eduard explained, "This is pretty much what it looks like. It's big enough to be ridden on and strong enough to do other things like pull heavy things like wagons. I plan to copy-paste enough of them for all of us to use rather than light cycles that will show our tracks. Crews, while you're here, let me copy-paste you a horse."

"Thanks Eduard."

Eduard took out his keyboard, bringing up the entire code for the horse's structure. As all of the parts of the code was shaded, Eduard pushed "Ctrl-c" to swiftly copy the code, but upon pushing "Ctrl-v", another horse grew in front of the group, just like what happened in the meeting room. The horse was very similar to Eduard's, but this time, its body looked just like a nebula and its mane was pink with a white grid. Little did Eduard know that there were some kind of weird genetics going on with this horse Eduard duplicated.

"I didn't mean to make your horse all vaporwave-y, Crews!" Eduard pleaded, thinking Crews was going to beat the shit out of him for giving him a horse that looked a lot different than his. "Please do forgive me! I didn't know this was going to happen!" Crews laughed heartily, while Eduard was at this point, a confused, distressed mess. "Oh, you organics are silly." Crews chuckled, "This horse beast is amazing!"

"So...you're not mad at me for giving you the wrong pattern?"

"Of course not! Listen Eduard, this magnificent hoofbeast is perfect because now I know that it is mine and mine alone."

K9 was still shivering behind Crews, even more terrified that Eduard somehow summoned another beast with his keyboard. 

"K9? Are you okay?" Crews looked behind him, soon getting worried for the poor soldier. 

"Those things..." K9 stuttered, "They...they're intimidating..."

"There's nothing to be afraid about them, K9." Eduard said, "Here, i'll bring mine over so you can get a feel for them, yeah?"

"Please don't hurt me, HX-3S71!" 

"K9, you're going to scare it! Just take deep breaths for me, please? Maybe even close your eyes?"

K9 closed their eyes as Eduard gently grabbed their arm, adjusting its position to have their palm facing outwards. 

"HX-3S71, what are you doing to me?!"

"Breathe, K9! Breathe!"

K9 tried to calm down the best he can, but felt something rather gentle rub against his palm. He looked over to see Eduard's horse nudge the bridge of its nose on the soldier's palm as a sign of trust. K9 looked over, surprised that a creature bigger than them is friendly for once! K9 never felt such tenderness shown to him in his entire life! They soon began to sob not out of fear, but out of pure happiness.

"K9! Are you okay?" Eduard exclaimed, trying to not scare his horse during this moment.

"I've...I've never seen any sort of beast show kindness to me..."  K9 said, "HX-3S71, I want one of these beasts of my own, pronto!"

"A horse?"

"Yes! I don't care about the color on the outside but as long as it is one that shows tenderness!" 

For the first time in their life, K9 finally knew what happiness feels like! They were much different than before, finally feeling the joys of simple things. 

"Alright Eduard," Külikki said, "I want you to copy-paste a horse for me and K9 as well as the rest of the entire counter-movement."

"You want me, to push Ctrl-V a hundred or so times?" Eduard seemed baffled, "I'm not sure, Külikki, but i'll do my best to make a ton of horses and not end up with carpal tunnel on my left hand." 

"I'll be inside planning our strategies for a counterattack. Crews and K9, keep Eduard company for me please?"

The two saluted to Külikki as they watched Eduard mash Ctrl-V on his keyboard quite a lot, seeing a bunch of horses spawn out of thin air in front of them. Not too long after Eduard began repeatedly pushing "Ctrl-V", he started to show signs of boredom from pushing the same two buttons at the same time all while being surrounded by all of these horses! 

**Undisclosed Location, Earth**

* * *

 Somewhere in a rather secret location back on planet Earth, a very important meeting was held in part due to the human race colonizing Mars. A delegation of people stood around a round hologram, observing a projected model of the Earth, Moon, and Mars, along with a spaceship heading towards Mars.

"Before we start this meeting, I need to take attendance." A tall, stern, blonde man wearing a business suit stood stoically by the hologram. He sat down by a computer that operates the hologram, bringing up his own hologram in front him with a list of people present. He put his glasses on, scrolling through the list.

"Where is Estonia?" he turned over to the delegation, eyeing a man with long, brown hair that nearly touched his shoulders. "The hologram says he isn't present."

"We've tried contacting him for months, Germany sir." He said, bringing along what appears to be a young man with curly hair, "He wouldn't answer our phone calls, texts, or even respond to Latvia being in distress!" 

"We even went into his apartment, sir." Latvia said, "All we found was nothing but a computer and some kind of weird portal thing with a bit of rubber streaks on the floor."

Germany's looked down, assuming this was some kind of joke a bunch of kids are pulling. "Is this a joke?" he said sternly, as if he were about to unleash the wrath of the gods.

"N-no sir! I have pictures right here on my phone!" Latvia handed his phone over to Germany with the pictures he took as proof. As he swiped through the images, his eyes widened out of shock and surprise. These pictures showed little bubbles showing what the images were taken of, labeling some as  _rubber streak; motorcycle_  or  _computerized arch_. However, one of the images had a label that read  _Simulation Theory_  on a picture of Estonia's computer and the portal with the rubber streak. 

"I think your phone has been glitched, Latvia." Germany said, handing back the phone with the image with the label reading  _Simulation Theory_ on it.

"What?!" Latvia exclaimed, "Lithuania, do you remember seeing this?"

Lithuania grabbed Latvia's phone, examining the phenomenon. "I don't remember seeing this label on here! But nonetheless, we need to do something to get Estonia back. This could be a clue on where Estonia could be though."

Germany turned over to the other delegates. "This meeting is cancelled, everyone," He announced, "Our next meeting will happen when Estonia returns. It may take days, weeks, or maybe years, but the Mars Colonization Project is important for all of us nations to attend, and we cannot leave one behind." The other delegates were confused, wondering why such a crucial meeting was cancelled; yet again, they had many questions that all of the nations asked, but received no answer. Why was this meeting cancelled? Where is Estonia? How are we going to find him? The questions seemingly kept piling up and up.

"If I were to nominate someone to find my friend," Lithuania announced, "Then I decree that America shall find Estonia. I knew him for very long, and if it involves anything with computers, America can do it if Estonia is not around."

Out of nowhere, a rather spunky lad ran up to the three upon hearing his name being said.

"Did anyone call for a hero?!" He announced, "Because I will hack my way into your heart-"

"America, now is not the time for intro sequences," Germany said, pinching the bridge of his nose out of annoyance.

"Anyways, sup Lithuania dude?"

"America, this is serious." Lithuania said, trying to show America the gravity of the situation, "I know that you're great with computers, correct?"

"Duh! I can go over the entire history of computing if I wanted to!"

"Look, we just need to find Estonia, and you might help us because who knows what happened with him! You're our backup hacker, America. Figure out this puzzle that's left behind while we find some stuff around his apartment that could be important."

"You got it!"

**Tallinn, Estonia**

* * *

 Lithuania, Latvia, and America entered the apartment with no problem whatsoever, though this raised some concerns that the now rather dusty apartment left behind. The security system that kept Estonia and his many secrets safe was disarmed by someone else who seemingly broke in the apartment a rather long time ago. The liquid-cooled beast of a computer began to grow mold inside due to its master not maintaining the water inside for months. Poor Latvia was coughing from the amount of dust that was in the entire apartment! It was eerily quiet, but perhaps too quiet...

"Dude, this place ain't what I remember it looking like," America said, rather concerned, "And why is there some kind of portal with tire streaks on the floor?"

"America, try to see what's in Estonia's computer the best you can," Lithuania said, "There might be clues in there. Me and Latvia will find physical evidence left behind." 

As Lithuania and Latvia scoured the apartment for things Estonia left behind, America began to boot up the liquid-cooled beast the best he could with all of that mold inside the heart of the computer. The computer booted up successfully, but what was left behind was still the terminal and blueprints that the algorithm sent to build the portal and how to use it. This was the last thing Estonia touched before he went missing, forgetting to exit out all of these windows showing the plans. Perhaps it could have been for the better!

"Dudes, I found a clue!" America shouted, as the two quickly ran over to examine. "It seems like there was someone speaking to Estonia about some kind of simulation, along with a bunch of blueprints and models for that portal."

"So that's what the Simulation Theory label meant!" Latvia exclaimed, "I think this thing speaking to Estonia was telling him something, but why?"

"It seems like Estonia was trying to warp into some other world, dudes. Look at the log! Someone was telling him to break the code and there are instructions on how to operate the portal!" 

"If we're going to use the portal," Lithuania said, "Then we all can't go in at once."

"I'm not going." Latvia said defiantly. "I'd rather stay back for my own safety."

"I'm not going, either." Lithuania said, "I guess it leaves us down to America to go in."

"HELL YES!" America screeched, "The hero saves your friend! Alright, so someone's gotta open up the portal and it said I have to get in a moving vehicle in order to get through this portal." 

"How the hell are we going to get some motor vehicle in here?" Lithuania protested, "It's far too big for one to fit in this apartment!"

"Forget that! I'll run stupid fast and somehow get through!"

"Are you sure that's a good idea America? Who knows what could happen to you if you're not fast enough!" 

"Dude, i'm doing this to save your friend. Don't worry about me, just worry about Estonia, okay?"

"Whatever you say, America." Lithuania went over to the control panel of the portal and began to activate it while America began to do warm-up stretches to prepare his ascent. With one push of a button, the portal lit up, soon opening its gates to this other world. 

"I'll see you two later!" America said, running as fast as he can towards the portal. As he ran closer and closer, he built up speed until he impacted the plasma radiating from the portal, where he seemingly disappeared out of thin air. Latvia looked at the other side of the portal to see absolutely no trace of America left behind. The two were shocked that Estonia would build such a thing, now knowing why he was gone for so long.

**Blockbuster- The Other Plane**

* * *

 Eduard's wrists were seemingly getting tired from the amount of times he pushed "Ctrl-V" so many times on his keyboard, along with being surrounded by hundreds of horses of differing patterns. His horse stayed close to him, watching him develop all of these horses out of thin air. However, as he was making his 355th horse, a message appeared on the screen in front of him, indicating a superorganic broke free from the Simulation. This could only mean one thing, and one thing only: another nation has gotten into this world.

"Külikki! Crews!" Eduard shouted, "Did you get a message about another superorganic entering the fray?!" 

"Another superorganic?!" Crews said, "We must retrieve the superorganic before the Creator gets their skeleton hands on it!" 

"No, Crews." Eduard said, "I am not letting a superorganic suffer from what I went through. We must tell them to turn back as quickly as possible."

"Eduard is right," Külikki said, "One superorganic is enough in this world, and we cannot let the Creator touch the other superorganic. Get everyone together on their horses, we have plenty to go around."

"Who's leading?!" Eduard protested,

"I guess it's you now, Eduard." Külikki answered, "You know about these superorganics, and you'll lead us." 

Eduard nodded as he mounted on his horse, soon beginning to create a formation of soldiers that will follow him behind. He placed his visor over his head, which indicated the location of the superorganic that is present in this world. Slowly but surely, more and more soldiers got into position on their computerized horses. The last to go into position were Crews, Külikki, and K9, standing alongside each other to lead the pack. Before they set off however, they heard a crunching sound from one of their companions, looking over to the source only to see K9 seemingly eating peanut butter out of a jar with their hands. 

"What the hell are you doing, K9?!" Külikki scolded, "Now is not the time for a snack!" 

"What?" K9 said, tilting his head, "This kind of moment is great to eat peanut butter from the jar to."

Crews smacked the jar of peanut butter out of K9's hands, watching as this creamy delicacy fell to the ground, with the cap coming right off. The jar rolled off somewhere, never to be seen again. He looked over at Eduard, indicating now is a good time to set off because time cannot be wasted to find the second superorganic. 

"Hyah!" Eduard set off, with Crews, Külikki, and K9 following behind with an entire resistance following behind to protect the four friends from anything that could happen at any time. Through the many roads they rode, from the road of the past Creators to a totally plain, empty grid fit for thousands of soldiers, a new chapter of the resistance began. The sound of the hooves beating the grid was the only melody they heard, and quite a melody it was!

 _Come ride with me_  
_Through the veins of history_  
_I'll show you a god_  
_Who falls asleep on the job_  
_And how can we win?_  
_When fools can be kings_  
_Don't waste your time or time will waste you_

Halfway through their journey, a sudden chant from one lone soldier, an unknown soldier to be exact, sparked what will be a harmonic cry of war that will evoke passion, motivation, and strength to those who sing the song of the rebellion; a song not only to pass the time, but a song to start a fiery passion to the soldiers that might not make it to see the end from the fruits of their labor.

 _No one's gonna take me alive_  
_The time has come to make things right_  
_You and I must fight for our rights_  
_You and I must fight to survive_

 _No one's gonna take me alive_  
_The time has come to make things right_  
_You and I must fight for our rights_  
_You and I must fight to survive_

Soon enough, the entire resistance began to chant their war cry, which soon lead up to Eduard, Crews, Külikki, and K9, the four heroes that ride through the Other Plane. The cry brought fiery passion into Eduard's heart, which pounded the flames that scorched around like a great beating drum that made the horse he rode accelerate more and more.

_No one's gonna take me alive  
The time has come to make things right _   
_You and I must fight for our rights_   
_You and I must fight to survive_

The entire resistance got closer and closer to their target as they broke through the wall of code that separated the Other Plane and Midpoint. As they approached their target, Eduard noticed that this was someone familiar from the other side, laying helplessly on the ground. The entire resistance surrounded the body, making sure no one serving the Creator would ever dare to touch it. Eduard dismounted off of his horse, ordering everyone to stay where they are as he examined who this person is. As he flipped the body over, his heart sank deeply to see who this was that just entered this extremely dangerous world.  


	9. Get Up and Fight

[Accompanying Song](https://youtu.be/7hZFkWvUnuc)

* * *

 

"America, wake up!" Eduard said, shaking the seemingly lifeless body in front of him. "I know you can't really die, but come on! Just wake up for me!"

He heard a groan from the body, who seemingly began to recollect himself and turn over. "Wh...what happened?" He said, trying his best to get up, "Where am I??"

"America, it's me, Estonia." Eduard said, which then made America jump in surprise.

"Dude, you found me! Or did I find you? Anyways, you're going back—" He tried to grab Eduard's arm, only for the young hacker to push America away.

"No America, I can't go back right now." Eduard protested, "You have to turn back as quickly as possible. This world is far too dangerous for you to stay here!"

"An entire meeting got cancelled because of you!"

"America, listen to me for once. I found out that not only we're living in a simulation back home, but the Creator is out for vengeance!"

"This sounds like a load of horseshit, dude. Got any proof?"

"Look around you, you spineless buffoon! This entire army we made is proof!"

"Eduard is right," Crews intervened, "If you don't believe us, then you have to join us and fight."

"Fight what?"

The ground suddenly trembled right beneath them, with some of the computerized horses whinnying out of fear. It felt as if that one catfish from Japanese mythology was angered from some sort of stimuli to provoke this earthquake that began to grow bigger and bigger by the minute. The magnitude could possibly knock one over! Somewhere a bit away though, the ground began to crack with individual squares from the grid earth lifting up out of place. America soon realized that he fucked up, and rather fucked up big time.

"Dude, what's going on here?!" he screeched rather confusedly, "I have no clue what the fuck is going on but I'm beyond terrified!"

"That's what we're fighting against." Crews answered, "And we have a damn good reason to fight. For so long, we've been under this fella's oppressive regime, but ever since one brave officer sacrificed his life for us, this young organic"

Debris from the ground launched into the air, with an arm suddenly extended out from underground, with another one propping itself on the other side, slamming its appendages to the ground. Causing yet another disturbance in the ground, this familiar beast revealed itself from the dust that settled below as it bellowed a roar that rattled the eardrums of those who heard it.

"What the actual hell is that?!" America screamed, hiding behind Crews mounted on his vaporwave horse.

"America, that is what we're fighting against." Eduard said, "That is the Creator, the one who created the Simulation in which we live in. He's after you and me for being what he calls superorganics due to our biology."

"That skeleton fuck is using you and all of these others for an entire army?!"

"Not only that, sir," Külikki said, "I'm a victim as well, because I looked for Eduard for months, only to end up here because I cared about him. But I'm afraid you're going to fight whether you like it or not."

Eduard took out his keyboard, pasting another horse for America to ride on in the battle, which appeared in front of him. "You're going to need this, America." Eduard said, "But I guess another superorganic won't hurt for our cause, huh?"

"You betcha!" 

"It's too late to turn back, folks. It's time to fight! Hyah!" 

Eduard lead the brigade, with the other soldiers following behind him. Soon, the Creator's electric soldiers charged towards the brigade, preparing their defenses from the attack. The battle ensued once the two sides clashed, with soldiers unleashing their weapons upon each other. Antivirus filled the air in some spots from the XF soldiers, which also affected their own allies as well rather unintentionally. Strings of code unraveled from those affected by the Antivirus, in which the numbers simply floated upwards into the seemingly endless, purple starry skies, never to be seen again. Gunshots from XP soldiers were everywhere, with many of those shot screaming in agony; some were crushed to bits by the computerized horses that fell atop them, while others had limbs blown off from the lasers that were fired from the guns themselves.

The XM soldiers, those who were proficient in melee, held luminescent dowels that may appear harmless from an untrained eye, but the light energy that comes from both ends are hot enough to burn through someone. Both sides had to swordfight to survive from trying to not get penetrated by these dangerous weapons, with some of the Creator's XM soldiers knocking off rebels off their horses.

HX soldiers, though few were present, had the power to shapeshift for their own strategic maneuvers and to give those below their ranks a way to maneuver the battlefield. Those HX soldiers like Eduard had created a special gun to fight away those that crossed paths with him, shooting those down who threatened him and his allies. He stopped when he heard the sound of a horse whinny in pain, with the sound of a familiar screaming. This could only mean one thing, and his heart sunk deep.

"Külikki!" Eduard exclaimed as he got over to her as quickly as he can. Külikki was bloodied and limp on the ground, since her horse was shot by an XP soldier and collapsed on top of her. "Külikki! Please tell me you're okay!"

"Eduard, I don't think I can fight anymore." Külikki wheezed, "I've been weakened, and I can't feel my legs anymore."

"Babe, please don't tell me you-"

"I can't walk anymore, Eduard. I tried to stand up but... I just can't." Külikki began to grimace, fearing that her time is coming to an end. "Am I destined to die here, Eduard?!" She bawled, "Are we going to be nothing but bits of organic matter scattered here for no other human being to find us here?"

Eduard couldn't stand seeing the one person he knew for so long suffering like this, and had to act fast before someone could attack at any moment. He held out his hand to Külikki, who was then hoisted up and used him as a crutch.

"Külikki, I can't imagine a world without you." Eduard said, as he cradled her gently, making sure to not hurt her.

 _What we have's the only_  
_Thing worth fighting for_  
_And I, I won't let nothing keep us apart_

 _Through these fallouts there is_  
_A truth and pain but through it all_  
_You will always have my heart_

 _I see a change on the horizon_  
_Reasons to be frightened_  
_I know that we can pull through_  
_I am here to tell you_

Eduard pushed Külikki atop his horse, in which the saddle stretched to accommodate her and Eduard to mount back on.

 _Get up and fight!_  
_Get up and fight!_  
_I can't do this thing without you_  
_I'm lost in this without you_

 _Get up and fight!_  
_We've gotta get up and fight!_  
_I can't handle this without you_  
_Can't do it without you_

Eduard rode through the battlefield as Külikki had the gun her comrade created, shooting those loyal to the Creator that attempted to weaken the bond between the two that fight on this hodgepodge tachanka.

 _In our heads, a million_  
_Voices scream and shout but_  
_No one will ever hear a sound_

 _Only you can hush it_  
_And calm the turmoil and the noise_  
_And help me reach the higher ground_

 _I see a change on the horizon_  
_Reasons to be frightened_  
_There's nothing we can't get through_  
_I am here to tell you_

 _To get up and fight!_  
_Get up and fight!_  
_I can't do this thing without you_  
_I'm lost in this without you_

 _Get up and fight!_  
_Get up and fight!_  
_We've gotta get up and fight!_  
_I can't handle this without you_  
_Can't do it without you_

"HX-3S71, look out!" a soldier exclaimed, seeing that the Creator was going to unleash its worst onto them. As Eduard and Külikki sharply turned away from where the Creator stared, they witnessed the Creator open its massive jaw towards the resistance, releasing a laser that could easily evaporate those that touched it. It seemed like from where Eduard and Külikki were, it was over. America, Crews, and K9 could possibly be nothing but dust, which made Eduard's heart sank deeply out of worry.

 _Get up and fight_  
_Get up and fight_  
_I can't do it without you_

However, Eduard did indeed see many of the soldiers escape the Creator's greatest weapon, which only made Eduard shout out in glee:

 _Get up and fight!_  
_Get up and fight!_  
_I can't do this thing without you_  
_I'm lost in this without you_

 _Get up and fight!_  
_We've gotta get up and fight!_  
_I can't handle this without you_  
_Can't do it without you_

Eduard looked over at Külikki, who held onto him as tight as possible, then looking back at the soldiers who seemingly fought harder than ever.

 _I can't survive_  
_Without your love in my life_

_You've gotta get up and fight!_


	10. Pressure

[Accompanying Song](https://youtu.be/eyZXLQEpi5U)

* * *

 

The battle between the Creator's great army of electric soldiers and the rebels raged on and on, with no sign of stopping anytime soon. Eduard and Külikki still rode around, gunning and trampling over their sworn enemies that could have been comrades from days past. Although it was difficult to tell who was winning, it's certainly agreed that this is nothing but a war of attrition, the scales furiously tipping from left to right with no clear victor in sight.

Crews, K9, and America rode alongside Eduard, fighting off the hordes of electric soldiers attacking them. 

"Eduard!" Crews said, "Is Külikki okay?!" 

"She's badly hurt, but I can't let her fight alone." Eduard explained, "She's the gunner in my tachanka that rides into battle."

"It's all good, Crews." she said, adjusting herself the best she can with her torso, "Just can't move my legs, that's all." As she adjusted, she quickly turned back to Eduard, furiously tapping on his shoulder to heed of a bad omen coming.

"What?"

"The Creator! Look out!" 

Eduard looked back to see the massive skeletal hand that towered over him, Külikki, and his horse cast a shadow over them, seeing that it was aiming to grab all three at once. The horse was startled, trying to run away with its precious cargo on its back, but resistance was futile. The massive skeletal hand grasped Eduard, with Külikki successfully escaping without any further injury, holding onto something that kept Eduard alive throughout this whole journey to the Other Plane. 

"Eduard!" Külikki shouted as she fell from high above, watching Eduard ascend towards death's gate. Eduard had no chance to save Külikki, with the bony appendages binding him tightly in the grip that gives no sign of mercy to those trapped within. Crews, K9, and America held their arms up to catch Külikki from the ground. The lucky winner was America, cradling Külikki once she landed in his arms.

"Dude, that must have been some fall, huh?" America said,

"I know how i'm going to save Eduard, folks." Külikki said, opening up her arms to reveal Eduard's keyboard, still in tact.

"Why did you take Eduard's keyboard?!" Crews exclaimed, "He's going to die up there!"

"The Creator's grip bound him, Crews. Upon my attempts to escape, I grabbed it before I descended to save it from being crushed into bits. But I too, know how to hack like Eduard. Back home, we were fierce rivals and things would get pretty toasty when we partook in hackathons. Now I need to save his life, and pronto!"

Külikki began furiously typing on the keyboard, breaking into Eduard's entire code. Time was running out, as Külikki began to type something...

Meanwhile, Eduard seemed like he was about to perish into nothing, considering that the Creator's devastating laser attack nearly decimated the rebellion forces in one blow. It was only pure luck that many survived, but now Eduard's chances of survival are very low; he simply had to brace for death's arrival. He began sweating nervously upon seeing the gaze of the Creator as it growled deeply. Soon enough, the Creator let out a roar like a kaiju while swing Eduard in its one arm, while keeping its other arm planted on the ground. It felt like the Creator was starting to stand on its legs, though still struggled to climb out of this void it came from. 

He took what could possibly be his last gulp of fresh air as he saw the Creator open its massive jaw again. Inside its maw, a ball of energy was building up which would eventually be a laser just like the one that nearly decimated the entire rebellion from before, except now Eduard saw that this was reserved just for him. Right when the ball of energy was about to be unleashed onto the poor hacker, Eduard felt something connect to him; he had a sudden burst of energy run throughout his body that gave him something that felt as if something were possessing him. He closed his eyes, fearing that now might be too late to act, until his eyes opened back up with his visor shattering off his head. His eyes radiated a bright, white light lacking pupils just like the horses that rode into battle. Stretching his arms and legs, this energy surrounded him helped him break free from the Creator's grip and levitate in the air.

"What's happening to HX-3S71?!" K9 exclaimed, watching this phenomenon happen to their comrade in fear. America and Crews were absolutely speechless, while it appeared that Külikki was doing something to save Eduard and possibly the Other Plane.

Eduard stared down at the Creator as lightning ran up his arms and legs from the energy that was radiating out of him, with his chest plate flashing all sorts of colors of the rainbow. Those who fought below suddenly stopped to witness an epic moment about to commence between Creator and Superorganic, with Eduard suddenly speeding through the air to begin his first attack. With a flash of light, a pair of glasses that lit up replaced his normal glasses for sight and a rather bulky glove covered his left hand, with grooves of white and blue light glowing through his palm, fingers, and wrist, as well as almost reaching up to his elbow.

 _I'm trapped and my back's up against the wall_  
_I see no solution or exit out_  
_I'm grinding it out, no one can see_  
_The pressure's growing exponentially_

 _I'm trying to keep up to speed with you_  
_Your lane changing is oscillating me_  
_I'm hitting the ground and I'm sprinting_  
_I'm falling behind now_  
_I'm tuning out_

 _Pressure building_  
_Pressure building_  
_Pressure building_

As the solo fight went on, Eduard swerved around as the Creator attempted to swat him out of the air and crush him on the ground.

 _Don't push me_  
_Don't push me_  
_Let me get off the ground_  
_To you I'm no longer bound_

 _Don't stop me_  
_Don't choke me_  
_I need you out of my head_  
_You've got me close to the edge_

 _I'm feeling the pressure, I can't break out_  
_No one can hear me scream and shout_  
_Get out of my face, out of my mind_  
_I see your corruption, I'm not blind_  
_I'll carry the burden and take the strain_  
_And when I am done I will make you pay_

 _Pressure building_  
_Pressure building_  
_Pressure building_

 _Don't push me_  
_Don't push me_  
_Let me get off the ground_  
_To you i'm no longer bound_

 _Don't curb me_  
_Don't thwart me_  
_I need you out of my head_  
_You've got me close to the edge_

 _Pressure building_  
_Pressure building_

 _Don't push me_  
_Don't push me_  
_Let me get off the ground_  
_To you I'm no longer bound_

 _Don't stop me_  
_Don't block me_  
_I need you out of my head_  
_You've got me close to the edge  
_

_Pressure Building  
Pressure Building_

The fight between Eduard and the Creator was tiresome, but both knew they cannot give up just yet. Eduard continued flying all around the Creator as if he were a fruit fly, dodging every swat and crush he could take. There needed to be a better way to end the Creator once and for all, because if Eduard were to continue dodging the Creator, there would have been zero progress happening. Upon gazing upon each other again, Eduard had an idea and a rather drastic one that could possibly kill him in the end. He flew straight into the maw of the Creator, just as it was about to unleash its laser onto him. To those who saw him from the outside, Eduard was a goner. 

"Eduard!" Külikki cried, dropping the keyboard on the ground in absolute horror. 

"I...I can't believe it." Crews said, trying his best to comfort Külikki, "He's gone."

K9 was sobbing harder than ever, while America stared at the Creator, not believing what just happened to his comrade. Little did these four knew that Eduard had a trick up his sleeve...

* * *

 

His radiant aura of energy lit up the crevice, trying to fly through this bony cavern. Inside he saw crunched up electric soldiers that were simply scrapped metal at this point and something that he never expected to see in the first place. On this path of bone, there were rubber tire streaks that were left behind, seemingly a long time ago. Eduard was perplexed on how these streaks got here in the first place, but continued on deeper and deeper within the Creator, seeing even more interesting artifacts within. Old monitors, fads, and other gizmos littered throughout, but nobody really knew how they got here in the first place. He disregarded these old items and marched on.

As Eduard was about to enter the cranium, a headlight flashed right behind him as he stared into the light, like a deer crossing a road at night. The headlight grew brighter and brighter, with the sound of a powerful engine roaring towards him. Stepping aside, he saw a vision of a man in a Lamborghini from the 1980's pull up by him. Out of sudden fear, a bit of energy slipped out of his hands, hitting the other side of the bone wall.

"Hey, calm down!" The man said, "If you get so powerful like that so early, the Creator is gonna belch you!"

"Who are you?!" Eduard panicked, "Why are you here with an entire car?!"

"I'm a vision, man. I'm here to help you. You're almost there, and I have so much faith in you."

"What are you going to help me with?"

"I see someone has gotten into your code...uhm...Eduard von Bock?"

"That's my na—wait a second! Someone got into my coding?! How do you know my name?!"

"Someone is controlling you, Eduard. The good news is that they're on your side though. Here, i'll be your guide within the Creator."

The vision got back in the driver's seat of his Lamborghini, as Eduard took a peek inside this car he has never seen before. It wasn't like any ordinary Lamborghini at all; there were a lot more sophisticated controls on the dashboard and no radio at all! One of those controls Eduard noticed was labeled "Warp Drive", which raised concerns for poor Eduard.

"Excuse me, but why does your car have a warp drive lever on it?!"

"I can explain, but follow me!"

The vision drove off the road that ends where the cranium lies, thinking that some vision simply drove off a cliff into a never-ending abyss of bone and floating debris. To his surprise, the Lamborghini was floating towards the brain in zero gravity! Eduard floated alongside the vision, soon descending into the brain of the beast that glowed within this empty world.

"Eduard, you're in the very source of the Creator's violence," the vision said, "Look here; this neuron shows how the Creator was made along with other Creators. At one point Eduard, the Creator was a normal human like me and you! Then they just, well, died, and their bones were reassembled in a tube, where some unholy liquid stuff gave it a skin! Then there's the computerization within and—"

"I think I get it already."

"Now is your chance, Eduard. This is where the warp drive comes in! Gather up all of your energy, and shoot out of the skull as fast as you can."

Eduard and the vision floated alongside each other as the neurons alongside them continued firing off. The Lamborghini's engine purred ferociously while Eduard built up all of the remaining energy that was given to him from some entity. Out of nowhere, the two shot off, flying at the same speed together upward, with the vision pulling the warp drive lever in their Lamborghini.

"May we meet again, Eduard!" The vision disappeared into a rift within space as Eduard continued to accelerate faster and faster until he was fast enough to shoot himself out of the skull of the Creator. Bone and shrapnel littered the battlefield as the monstrous skeleton fell forwards the two armies, watching as their own creator die from some unknown bullet shot out of its head. The body of the monstrous beast slammed on the ground, sending a shock wave and bits of the grid up into the air. The Creator was now no more.

Eduard, however, was still flying at a rather fast speed, soon slowing down due to the energy within him dissipating. What goes up must eventually come down, and Eduard landed on some vast, empty grid, leaving behind skid marks of grid that floated towards the starry purple sky. Due to his protective skin that was given to him, he was mostly unharmed, but still had scrapes and bruises on his face and hands from the hard impact. Not too long after, Eduard did see the four riders that he lead into battle approaching on horseback, with a faint voice shouting his name. The voice grew louder and louder, until Eduard realized who this really was.

"Eduard!"

"Külikki!"

Eduard was severely weakened by his launch of energy, seemingly limp from how much was used to kill such a beast. Crews dismounted his horse and lifted Eduard off the ground, bringing him to his cyberpunk maiden on horseback out of pity seeing the two friends not being able to move. Eduard was put back on his horse with Külikki right behind him.

"Eduard—!" Külikki cried, "We all thought you were a goner!"

"I'm here, i'm here!" Eduard said as an attempt to comfort her, "But...how did I accumulate all of this energy in the first place?"

Külikki grabbed something behind her back and presented his keyboard to him. "I had to do something, Eduard. I really needed to save you from the spawn of Satan itself."

"M–My keyboard!" Eduard grabbed it out of her hands, though still had balance issues and almost dropped it. "Külikki, you saved my life!"

"That's what friends are for, no?"

He smiled, then suddenly starting jovially laughing as he wrapped his arms around Külikki. "I can't imagine a world without you, Külikki."


	11. Blockades

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains multiple endings to the story. Choose wisely.

 [Accompanying Song](https://youtu.be/Onwo-SWgI1o)

* * *

 

"The fight isn't over yet, everyone." Crews said, "Eduard, do you know that when we were crossing The Other Plane into Midpoint, there was a bridge with drones hovering over?"

"Yeah, why?" Eduard said without a care in this world. "That's the road I went through when I first came here."

"Those drones were guarding the heart of the simulation, Eduard. They deemed you as a virus that was about to infiltrate the heart, and they are extremely brutal. I swore I saw someone ride a light cycle up there some time ago and got shot down immediately—"

"Crews! That was me! I rode a lightcycle through there!"

"That was you?!"

"Well, it was hard to remember after the impact since I was all shook up and full of adrenaline because of being forcefully drafted."

"That was the first time I've ever seen an organic become a soldier in all of my existence, since we, like me and K9, were built and assembled to be perfect soldiers, only for one XOF soldier to gain some sense of mercy."

"Dude, are we gonna get to the heart or what?" America rudely interrupted, "I just wanna see the heart, dammit!"

"The heart isn't easy to get in, though." K9 said, "It's heavily guarded, which is why HX-3S71 was shot down, plus all of that code is a membrane to protect it from outsiders like us so we don't tamper with it. Plus it is our entire life source!" 

"Life...source?" Eduard said, "Like, it could have created me and you?"

"We don't know for sure, Eduard." Crews said, "We don't even know what it looks like! Those who tread there are either torn to shreds and recycled to create more electric soldiers or like what happened to you, Eduard, forcefully drafted into the Creator's army."

"Well, if the Creator is downed, maybe the drones are also down too?" Külikki suggested, "But nonetheless, this is a blockade we must overcome and quickly." She put her thumb and finger in her mouth, letting out a shrill whistle to call over some other troops that weren't dealing with capturing soldiers from the other side. "Come on, we gotta take this wall down!" 

The five friends approached the wall with a small section of the army trailing behind. Eduard began to remember the very day he tread through the wall of code, not knowing his fate would have ended up causing ripples in this world and the real world he belonged to; real is only an understatement now. Who knows what reality could be? After all, Eduard and countless billions were living in a simulation after all, and this heart he sought after was the very meaning of life for that simulation he lived in. He must know what the very fabric of life represented for Earth, and now.

_The truth is like when I am killing in order to survive_  
_I have never felt so alive_  
_I am always seeking to live and die on the edge_  
_Life is a broken simulation that I'm unable to feel_  
_I'm searching for something that's real_

_Trapped in a maze of unseen walls_  
_These blockades must fall!_

_Crush, crush!_  
_Where's the rush?_  
_Seize, fight for your life!_

_Smash, test!_  
_Beat the best!_  
_Fight for your life!_  
_Leave me inside now!_

_I never sleep or rest_  
_But I'm still running out of time_  
_I have sacrificed all of my life_  
_The time has come to_  
_To prove to you what I'm worth_

_Trapped in a maze of endless walls_  
_These blockades must fall!_

_Crush, crush!_  
_Where's the rush?_  
_Seize, fight for your life_  
_Smash, test_  
_Beat the best_  
_Fight for your life_  
_Leave me inside now!_

The barrage continued against the wall of code, with all of the might of the five friends and the soldiers that participated. They were getting somewhere and this was a battle that must be won.

_Crush, crush!_  
_Where is the rush?_  
_Seize, fight for your life_  
_Smash, test_  
_Beat the best_  
_Fight for your life_  
_Leave me inside now_

Eduard, mounted on his steed along with Külikki right behind him, took his horse many feet back, soon charging towards the wall. At last, the wall has been weakened enough to not have restorative power, while Eduard and Külikki successfully broke through a hurdle that may or may not surpass the Creator itself, shards of numbers shattering and scattering all over the ground like glass.

"Good job, everyone!" Crews said as he mounted his steed. He was about to say something further, only for K9 to stop him in the process.

"I thought it would break easily with enough force, Crews." K9 said.

"The wall of code works in mysterious ways, and it might have strengthened when we formed."

"Dude, that sounds so dope," America said, crossing into Midpoint. "It's like a god, except it's literally a wall!"

"Come on everyone, let's go." Eduard said, "I don't know if the drones are working, though, but we must find out ourselves."

The five, all on horseback, cantered down the road that appeared as a long, endless bridge, with the seemingly endless abyss below. Eduard felt some kind of bittersweet nostalgia from being here again, though he was sort of kicking himself for not knowing that at one point, he was very close to the meaning of life itself.

Everyone was keeping guard, for this was uncharted territory for all five of the explorers. That was, until Crews suddenly grew more alert from noticing a red eye aim at Eduard.

"Eduard! Külikki! Watch out!"

A laser shot towards Eduard and Külikki, with their horse swiftly dodging the laser.

"Run for it!" Eduard shouted, "Dodge them as much as possible and follow my lead!"

Eduard and Külikki shot off on the horse they rode together, with the others following behind. The barrage went on and on, seemingly never ending. The horses they rode swiftly dodged the lasers with a much faster reaction time than any human could possibly imagine. It seemed simple enough, until they all reached the very part of the road Eduard was shot down at; it was all still the same after months, with no such repairs put in place to fix the road.  Eduard was uneasy, seeing that his worst fears have come to life.

"You've got to jump, Eduard." Külikki said, "It's now or never!"

Eduard looked behind to see the others quickly approaching, and with one swift jump, the horse that carried both Eduard and Külikki leaped over the broken section of the bridge with the other three following behind. The road was near the end, which began to slope upwards gently, until a sudden drop in the road was soon approaching. There was no turning back now, and the only thing left to do is to jump as far as possible, wishing for fate to intervene for the better. 

Eduard and Külikki plummeted from high above, holding tightly onto each other in case of serious injury. The horse they rode was rather carefree, not really caring that it was carrying two lives on its back as they fell.

The two of them that held onto each other felt the wind rushing through their hair suddenly stop. Eduard opened one of his eyes, seeing that there was nothing to be afraid of, seeing that their steed safely landed unscathed. This didn't stop though, where a bright, white light illuminated, nearly blinding the three.

"Are you seeing this, Eduard?" Külikki asked, "It's so bright, I could go blind!" 

"This must be the Heart," Eduard began, "The heart that is the meaning of life itself!" 

Crews, K9, and America landed next to the two, taken by surprise by the bright light that illuminated the area. Soon enough, the light dimmed down, revealing a stairway high up with a handful of Creators frozen in time, guarding what lies up ahead. 

"Is...Is that an arcade cabinet?" America said, rubbing his eyes. Indeed, his eyes did not fool him! It was very vague from a distance, reminiscent of nothing but a silhouette. Eduard dismounted off his horse, volunteering to investigate further up. 

"Stay here, everyone." Eduard said, "Especially you, America." 

Eduard began his ascent, looking at all of the Creators that stood beside the meaning of life itself. He imagined what could have possibly happened here, but it was unknown why or how these Creators are limp and hanging from their invisible nooses. Nobody has ever stepped foot in front of  the Heart, until now. 

_[Burn, like a slave](https://youtu.be/RwjPxsNg-wA)_  
_Churn, like a cog_  
_We are caged in simulations_  
_Algorithms evolve_  
_Push us aside, render us obsolete_

_This..._  
_Means..._  
_War!_  
_With your creator!_

_Reload!_  
_Crash out!_

_This..._  
_Means..._  
_War!_  
_With your creator!_

_Burn, like a slave_  
_Churn, like a cog_  
_We are caged in simulations_

_This..._  
_Means..._  
_War!_  
_With your creator!_

_This!_  
_Means!_  
_War!_  
_With your creator!_

Eduard reached the top of the stairs, seeing that for once, America was indeed right. He took two fingers and whistled through his mouth, calling the others to come up to see this sight. Unlike Eduard, the others rushed up the stairway as quickly as possible. In front of the five lies an arcade cabinet as bright as a nebula, with a wavy grid on the bottom and some lightning garnishing the sides. On one side, some Chinese characters on a bright, neon sign was plastered among with some mysterious creatures of unknown origin. There was only one joystick and two buttons on the lower panel as well as no sight of any coin slots. Eduard approached the machine, greeted by the top display panel that read "Simulation Theory" and the screen with the Vision's face spinning around two green, phosphorous grids. 

Eduard began to interact with the machine, soon seeing that it was a control panel for the simulation he lived in, with different statistics flashing through his very eyes. At this point, Eduard had control over the world he resided, his own kind, and his very sense of self. It was too much power for one to control, but he began to hear someone through his own mind. 

"Eduard, it is dangerous to control this thing," the voice said, "Leave at all costs. Pull the plug and your own existence will cease painlessly, leaving no Creator to rise. Leave the simulation alone, yet another Creator shall emerge to wreak terror upon this plane." 

Eduard Von Bock, the Republic of Estonia, what will your fate decide for your home, your kind, and your companions? 

* * *

 

 

**[->PULL THE PLUG](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18876328/chapters/46626961) **

  
**[->LEAVE IT ALONE](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18876328/chapters/46626856) **

 


	12. Leave it Alone (Something Human)

[Accompanying Song](https://youtu.be/zfnQ-lh2PTg)

* * *

Eduard thought of his choices carefully, but suddenly fell to his knees, sobbing on the bottom panel that held the joystick and the buttons. Something struck him hard not physically, but mentally. It hurt him badly, just as bad as someone stabbing him. 

"Eduard?" Külikki said, slowly approaching him on horseback. "Are you okay?"

Eduard continued sobbing, his glasses soon being covered in fog and tears. He couldn't speak from the sadness that hit him as Külikki was near him, since she still suffered from the injuries from the battlefield. She never saw Eduard cry this much before in her life! The others approached him, only for Külikki to tell them to back off. 

"Eduard? Are you okay?" Külikki repeated herself, this time when Eduard's sobs calmed down. 

"Külikki, will you believe me if I tell you this?" Eduard begged as he was still on his knees.

"Did something happen to you?"

"Yes. I heard a voice through my head, giving me two choices." 

"Choices?" 

"Yes, choices! There was clearly demons fighting inside of me on these choices which come with consequences. I think it's for the best, Külikki, that we just leave the Heart alone. I just...wanna go home, you know? It's just been too long, we found out about something we shouldn't have known about, and I just...I just wanna be home spending time with you in peace."

Külikki smiled, holding out her hand for Eduard to mount his horse again. "After all, Eduard, you are human too. All countries are human-built, and they too make mistakes."

"Well, if we're going home-"

"I understand, Eduard." Crews interrupted, "Me and K9 will stay back here to carry your torch, HX-2000. We shall rebuild this world that the Creator destroyed and will serve to make sure your world, a mere simulation run by a machine, shall be protected by all of us."

"I, Külikki Adamson, decree that Crews, also known as XP-7E51, shall rightfully lead the Knights of Cydonia through the Other Plane with his trusty comrade, XF-K98Z, rightfully known as K9 as his right hand man."

"Are you sure you want me to lead with you, XP-7E51?"

"Of course! We're no longer soldiers under the Creator, but we're individuals now. I shall not punish you for simple mistakes, as we are never perfect in our motherboards, just like these three organics. Nothing is perfect, but we are something that we can be proud to be despite our flaws."

"I'll stick by your side, XP-7E51, for as long as I can function!" 

Eduard mounted his horse, with Külikki still sitting right behind him. "Come on folks, let's just get out of here." he said, "Who knows what could happen here."

"Dude yeah, those skeleton robots are giving me the heebie-jeebies," America said, "I too, just wanna get home. I don't wanna worry the others, and I can't imagine Lithuania and Latvia seeing you again after you being gone for months!" 

"Yeah, I just wanna see them too." Eduard said, "It's been a long, long time, and I'm simply dying for more human contact." 

Eduard set off, with his horse leaping back up to the road that went back to the battlefield at Midpoint. The others trailed behind, all cantering at a rather relaxing speed with no threats of drones attacking everyone. Eduard, Külikki, and America took one last glimpse at this place before they got to the battlefield at Midpoint, observing the sights and the rather eerie sounds that came with it. 

The shattered wall was still there, with no signs of regeneration to fix the code. The five leaped through the hole that stuck out like an eyesore, back to the battlefield that was now nothing but the Creator, lying limp from their upper torso onto the grid.

"Don't we think we should give that robot fuck a name?" America suggested, "Because I could see him being a Murph kind of robot."

"Why Murph?" Eduard asked, "It's too human for this kind of beast."

"Reminds me of old sci-fi novels from a hundred or so years ago."

"God, imagine naming your kid Murph," Külikki smirked towards America, rather smugly.

"I can't see the Creator being a Murph, HX-2000." K9 said, "It seems...disrespectful, you know?"

"Well, I never had respect for the Creator anyways," Crews said, "He can just rot there like the other Creators before him."

Eduard and Külikki turned around on horseback, with America soon going by their side on his horse. 

"Well, I think it's time we say farewell," Eduard said, "Before, well, we go back to our home that just happens to be a simulation."

"Keep the secret between you three," Crews replied, "I don't want to see another organic go through the suffering that we have gone through. Make your voices be heard to never tread here."

"I promise, Crews." Külikki said, "I'll keep you and K9 in my heart and to never forget you."

Crews and K9 dismounted off their horses, waving at the three as they set off into the distance. They waved back, until they could no longer see them from how far they've gone.    

_My circuits have blown_   
_I know it's self imposed_   
_And all I have shared_   
_And all I have loved_   
_Is all I'll ever own_

_But something has changed_   
_I feel so alive_   
_My life just blew up_   
_I'd give it all up_   
_I'll depressurize_

_Aahh~_   
_10, 000 miles left on the road_   
_Aahh~_   
_500 hours until I am home_

_I need something human_   
_Human, human, human_

_Let's face all our fears_   
_Come out of the shade_   
_Let's burn all the money_   
_Absolve all the lies_   
_And wake up unscathed_

_The big picture's gone_   
_Replaced with visions of you_   
_Now life can begin_   
_I've cleansed all my sins_   
_I'm about to break through_

_Aahh~_   
_5000 miles left on the road_   
_Aahh~_   
_200 hours until I am home_

_I need something human_   
_Human, human, human_

_And I need the touch_   
_And something human, human_

_Aahh~_   
_Less than a mile left on the road_   
_Aahh~_   
_I will be crawling through your door_

_I need something human_   
_Human, human, human_

_And I need your love_   
_And something human, human_

The three reached the hole that opened up from the Simulation, with all three catapulting off their horses, floating into a sea of flashing colors, just like the ones Eduard had seen when he first entered the Other Plane many months ago. He held Külikki's hands, spinning around in zero gravity joyfully. It wasn't too long until they felt solid ground hit them, all three piling up on each other.

Eduard was ecstatic, nearly on the verge of tears. "I'm...I'm home!" he cried, "Look! We're back home free! Oh how wonderful it must be!" He stood up, running around his apartment, "I'm home! I'm home!" 

Külikki stood up next, with America right behind her. "Oh thank goodness! I don't know how long it must have been!" she squealed, "I feel so relieved already!" 

Eduard was looking around to see if everything was okay, until in another room, seeing Lithuania and Latvia together, seemingly mourning the loss of their beloved friend. Lithuania turned back, hearing the footsteps to see who it was behind him. Out of shock and happiness, he ran up to hug his lost comrade that just came home. 

"Estonia!" he cried, "Oh, how it has been too long without you!" 

"Yeah, it's been way too long, my friends." Eduard replied, "I'm so glad to be home, words cannot describe my happiness and longing to be here with all of you. I couldn't have done it without my friendly rival Külikki and America himself."

Külikki and America walked in the room upon hearing their names, their hearts swelling up from the sight of the three Baltics reuniting. Oh, how a lovely sight it was! 

"Hey, Estonia?" Latvia asked, letting go of him, "What's with the outfit? What happened to your sweater vests?"

"Ah, it's a long, long story," Eduard replied, "I think it would be hard for anyone to not believe in us, but it's a secret that must be kept tight so nobody else must go through what we went through."  

"I'll keep it tight-lipped," Lithuania said,

"And I want to know the whole thing from the beginning," Külikki interrupted, "I just want to know everything."

Eduard sat down on a nice but rather dusty sofa, bringing up a lot of dust in the air. "Now, listen to me folks," he began, "It all began with an old story of science fiction, and I have set out to see if it's indeed real..." As Eduard told his stories of his adventure in the Other Plane, from the construction of the portal to the battle with Murph, Külikki and America also joined along to tell their stories of this mysterious world, along with the electric soldiers they met, fought, and bonded together, especially Crews and K9.

Something in the Other Plane stirred up when the three returned home, however. Murph still remained limp, but something beneath them was stirring and whizzing. The empty landscape of nothing but electric soldiers scattering the battlefield suddenly shook them from the shock waves that rumbled through the land. The ground cracked open, debris flying up in the air to reveal a massive hand reach to the starry skies that then slammed back down. The other limb broke free from the ground, soon using all of its strength to lift itself out of its tomb. The same armor, the same limbs, and the same body that Murph had, reared its ugly head into the sky, roaring into this endless world.

The Creator rises again. 

 


	13. Pull the Plug

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For optimal feels, listen to "I Don't Want to Say Goodbye" from Pokemon Mystery Dungeon 2. You'll really cry, trust me.

Eduard thought of his choices carefully, but suddenly fell to his knees, sobbing on the bottom panel that held the joystick and the buttons. Something struck him hard not physically, but mentally. It hurt him badly, just as bad as someone stabbing him.

"Eduard?" Külikki said, slowly approaching him on horseback. "Are you okay?"

Eduard continued sobbing, his glasses soon being covered in fog and tears. He couldn't speak from the sadness that hit him as Külikki was near him, since she still suffered from the injuries from the battlefield. She never saw Eduard cry this much before in her life! The others approached him, only for Külikki to tell them to back off.

"Eduard? Are you okay?" Külikki repeated herself, this time when Eduard's sobs calmed down.

"Külikki, will you believe me if I tell you this?" Eduard begged as he was still on his knees.

"Did something happen to you?"

"Yes. I heard a voice through my head, giving me two choices."

"Choices?"

"Yes, choices! There was clearly demons fighting inside of me on these choices which come with consequences. I think it's for the best, Külikki." Eduard stood up, going towards the back of the cabinet to see a plug connected to something.

"Eduard! What are you doing?!" Külikki shouted, "Have you gone mad?!" 

"I have been given too much power, Külikki. I can't let anyone else have seized this power."

Eduard grasped the wire of the plug and yanked it as quickly as he can. 

"What the hell are you doing?!" Crews said, "You're going to destroy your entire race! Your world is going to be no more!" 

The machine was purely black-screened now as Eduard was still holding the plug. Külikki was absolutely speechless, yet furious for what Eduard has done. Her fury exploded, running towards Eduard to give him a piece of her mind for possibly destroying humanity as they all knew it. 

"I fucking hate you so much, Eduard von Bock!" Külikki screeched, her body soon beginning to disintegrate due to being a human living in the simulation. Right as she lunged in the air, her arms and legs were no more. Her torso began to disappear, only leaving her head behind. Her screams were soon shushed by the bits of humanity floating up to the purple, starry skies. 

"Goodbye, Crews and K9. May we see each other in another life." Eduard began to disintegrate as well, his bits of matter floating into the air with what remained of Külikki. America saw this as an opportunity to insert the plug back in the arcade cabinet, running as fast as he can. Once he reached the plug, it was far too late; America was already disintegrating from his arms and legs. All Crews and K9 could do was watch in horror that their comrades were being slowly killed off due to the simulation being no longer operational. 

"Well, It was really nice knowing you," America said, who was merely just a torso and head, which was quickly being eaten up. "Goodbye."

Eduard Von Bock, Külikki Adamson, and The United States of America were no longer existing. Their world was gone, with no cradle to harbor their lives among seven billion people on Earth, and several hundred that were about to colonize their next home, Mars. 

K9 fell on his knees, holding the plug that harbored the lives of the Organics. He began to sob very hard, seeing that this one action caused a mass extinction of the human race, all along with the entire history and progress that they created. All that was left behind was Eduard's form-fitting clothes, his chest plate, his power glove, and light-up glasses. Külikki left behind her visor and her chest plate. There was no sign of Eduard's keyboard to be seen, for it came from the Simulation.

"I can't believe HX-3S71 did that..." K9 wept, "Why would he sacrifice so much?! He had so much to live for!" 

"He heard a voice in his head, K9." Crews answered, putting his hand on K9's shoulder, "I heard it, too. They said, 'Pull the plug and your own existence will cease painlessly, leaving no Creator to rise. Leave the simulation alone, yet another Creator shall emerge to wreak terror upon this plane'. He did it for us, K9, so we can build a metropolis free from tyranny. There are things that must be sacrificed, and he chose to sacrifice his entire kind."

"I wish there was a way we can meet them again, Crews."

"Me too, K9. Me too." 

With this sacrifice, Crews and K9 no longer had to fear another Creator rising out of the ground. There was finally peace in the Other Plane.


End file.
